to put the fear of God into
3
8.2
- idiom
- Informal
:
meter miedo
- It really put the fear of God into the prisoners.
Examples
-
You put the fear of God into me this afternoon with that wretched walk.
Fiction book (1996) -
The strict teacher put the fear of God into his students with his harsh grading policy.
-
You really put the fear of God into the boy.
-
Because you put the fear of God into them.
-
No, we put the fear of God into him.
-
Maybe a week in the hospital would put the fear of God into him.
Fiction book (1992) -
There is nothing on this earth that would make me stop, but this government has put the fear of God into me.
Blog text (19) -
Gracia decides that it is time to put the fear of God into Sara.
Fiction book (1993) -
I was a waiter working my way through design school at a higher-end restaurant, and when I first started, my manager put the fear of God into me about champagne service.
Blog text (2) -
He put the fear of God into Mark Sanchez and got that lazy SOB working so hard that he is actually playing well.
Blog text (16)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To make someone feel afraid or unsure of themselves
540
1.0
To make someone feel afraid
148
3.2
To make someone feel very frightened
145
6.7
To frighten someone very much by using threats or violence
59
3.7
To frighten someone very much
56
6.7
To make someone very afraid
5
8.8
To make someone very afraid
5
9.0
To frighten someone very much by a sudden event or loud noise
3
6.9
To frighten someone very much
3
5.6
To make someone very afraid
2
3.2
To make someone feel afraid
1
8.2
To make someone feel small or afraid by showing great power
To cause sudden fear in someone
Antonyms
How Frightened
148
3.2
- Informal
3
8.2
540
1.0
131
3.7
1
4.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
put + the + fear + of + God + into
The core meaning 'cause someone to feel fear' is directly derivable from 'put' (bring into a state) + 'fear' + 'into', so a learner who knows the words can guess the general sense. However, 'the fear of God' is an idiomatic intensifier with religious/cultural nuance that goes beyond a strictly literal composition, so the exact force and connotations may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Put the fear of God into may come from old church sermons where preachers warned people about God's anger and the deep fear that would follow. Hearing those warnings made people frightened and more obedient, so today the phrase means 'to make someone very frightened or to force respect'.