psych-out

American  

[sahyk-out] / ˈsaɪkˌaʊt /

Or psychout

noun

1. an act or instance of seeking to intimidate, make nervous, mislead, etc., in order to gain an advantage.

   Trash talk and psych-outs are common along the starting line of a horse race.

2. an intense, uncontrolled emotional reaction, or something that causes such a reaction.

   The song is an eight-minute psych-out that exudes passion and never loses its sense of power pop.

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adjective

1. involving or making use of intimidation, manipulation, etc., to gain an advantage over someone or get them to do something.

   He says hypnosis is just a psych-out method to get you to convince yourself that you don't need to smoke.

verb phrase

1. psych out

   1. to intimidate, make nervous, mislead, etc., in order to gain an advantage over.

      You can bluff, chat, and try to psych out the other players in online poker just like you can in person.

   2. to have or cause to have an intense and uncontrolled emotional reaction; freak out.

      I overhear too many parents psych out their kids with outdated information about getting a tooth filled.

   3. to figure out, especially in a way that involves psychology.

      I won't say I think like a cat, but I can kind of psych out how a cat would behave in a certain situation.

psych out British  

verb

1. to guess correctly the intentions of (another); outguess

2. to analyse or solve (a problem, etc) psychologically

3. to intimidate or frighten

4. (intr, adverb) to lose control psychologically; break down

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psych out Idioms  

1. Analyze or understand something; also, anticipate the intentions of someone, as in It's hard to psych out the opposition's thinking, but we have to try .

2. Undermine the confidence of, intimidate. For example, The basketball team managed to psych out their opponents' guards . This expression is often used in the passive and can mean “lose one's nerve,” as in After I learned that he had two doctorates in the field, I was completely psyched out . Both slangy usages date from the second half of the 1900s and allude to influencing someone psychologically.

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Etymology

Origin of psych-out

First recorded in 1955–60; noun use of verb phrase psych out

Example Sentences

A lot of those moves were modeled on Muhammad Ali’s, especially his psych-out job on Sonny Liston.

From New York Times • Feb. 28, 2020

Nick's uncanny talent puts him in the same category as all of your favorite mentalists, psych-out artists, mnemonic superfreaks, intuitive geniuses, and human lie detectors enforcing the law elsewhere on television.

From Slate • Oct. 28, 2011

I think it hard, trying to cancel Vanessa’s psych-out.

From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen

Across the field, Vanessa is making a show of getting into her blocks, running through her psych-out routine.

From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen

Related Words

• agitate
• bewilder
• chill
• confound
• daunt
• demoralize
• disconcert
• discourage
• dishearten
• dismay
• dispirit
• distract
• fluster
• frighten
• perturb
• rattle
• sap
• shake
• undermine
• unsettle