scare someone out of their wits

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

scare someone out of their wits (third-person singular simple present scares someone out of their wits, present participle scaring someone out of their wits, simple past and past participle scared someone out of their wits)

1. (transitive, informal) To frighten someone to such an extent that they behave irrationally.

   Synonym: frighten someone out of their wits

   He scared me out of my wits, sneaking up behind me in the dark like that.

See also

• scare the pants off of
• have one's wits about one

Further reading

• “scare someone out of their wits”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “frighten scare sb out of their wits”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.