daylights

British

/ ˈdeɪˌlaɪts /

plural noun

consciousness or wits (esp in the phrases scare, knock, or beat the ( living ) daylights out of someone )

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"The continuing brainwashing of 'you can only play in this way', up until recently scared the living daylights out of coaches, particularly young coaches," he says.

From BBC • Sep. 23, 2025

“I chose tennis because I loved that you can just hit the living daylights out of the ball.”

From Washington Times • May 31, 2023

“This should scare the living daylights out of American citizens,” Mr. Scott said.

From New York Times • Aug. 9, 2022

“It scared the absolute daylights out of me,” Power said.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 20, 2022

These books were frankly meant to shock their middle- class readers—to scare the daylights out of them—even as they played on their sympathies.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023