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Synonyms

psych up

British  

verb

  1. informal (tr, adverb) to get (oneself or another) into a state of psychological readiness for an action, performance, etc

"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

psych up Idioms  
  1. Excite emotionally, as in The chorus was really psyched up for performing in Symphony Hall. [Slang; c. 1970]


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.

Cameras trail the athletes as they psych up for their heats with cue-the-“Rocky”-theme-song intensity.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 26, 2019

It is an argument that, at the very least, jibes with the person who greets each football player as he gets off the bus and who races onto the field to psych up the “polis.”

From New York Times • Nov. 7, 2014

Perhaps foolishly, this week I tried to psych up my son, who isn’t looking forward to returning to his state elementary school in Beijing and those new characters.

From New York Times • Aug. 23, 2012

"As Freud said to Jung in Vienna, you can psych up too much for a darts match."

From BBC • Aug. 12, 2012

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