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Glite Dictionary
to scare the bejesus out of

to scare the bejesus out of

5 8.8
To make someone very afraid
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : asustar a alguien mucho
  • The sudden loud noise scared the bejesus out of everyone in the room.
  • scare the bejesus out of people
  • just scare the bejesus out of
  • try to scare the bejesus out of

According to Chandler, what phenomenon scares the bejesus out of him?

Examples

Synonyms

to scare
vsto scare the bejesus out of
∞ 1.0

To make someone feel afraid or unsure of themselves

is a much stronger, more sudden and vivid shock expression
to frighten
vsto scare the bejesus out of
540 1.0

To make someone feel afraid

is more sudden and intensely shocking than general fear
to terrify
vsto scare the bejesus out of
148 3.2

To make someone feel very frightened

is more about sudden vivid shock than general terror
to startle
vsto scare the bejesus out of
131 3.7

To make someone react suddenly because they feel surprised or afraid

is more about lasting intense shock rather than brief surprise
to spook
vsto scare the bejesus out of
97 4.8

To suddenly frighten a person or animal so they panic

is more about raw vivid shock than alarm reaction
to horrify
vsto scare the bejesus out of
90 4.3

Make someone feel very shocked, afraid, or disgusted

is mainly sudden intense fear without moral disgust
to scare someone to death
vsto scare the bejesus out of
  • Informal
59 3.7

To frighten someone very much

is more about sudden shock than lasting mortal threat
to scare the hell out of
vsto scare the bejesus out of
  • Informal
56 6.7

To make someone very afraid

is similar but even more vivid in spoken speech
to give someone chills
vsto scare the bejesus out of
12 5.8

To cause a sudden feeling of fear or strong excitement that makes someone shiver

is about sharp shocking fear rather than mixed emotion
to petrify
vsto scare the bejesus out of
7 4.8

To make someone so frightened that they cannot move or think

is sudden and shocking rather than causing paralysis
to scare the bejesus
vsto scare the bejesus out of
  • Informal
5 9.0

To frighten someone very much by a sudden event or loud noise

is the same intense shock but lengthened in idiomatic form
to scare the pants off
vsto scare the bejesus out of
  • Informal
3 8.2

To frighten someone very much

is similar but often sounds more playful in speech
to put the fear of God into
vsto scare the bejesus out of
  • Informal
3 8.2

Make people very afraid and make them respect you by showing power

is sudden shocking fright rather than authority-based respect
to scare the living daylights out of
vsto scare the bejesus out of
  • Informal
3 6.9

To frighten someone very much

is equally intense but slightly less idiomatic
to scare the life out of
vsto scare the bejesus out of
  • Informal
3 5.6

To make someone very afraid

is equally extreme but more informal and emphatic
to send chills down someone's spine
vsto scare the bejesus out of
  • Informal
1 5.9

Make someone feel a sudden strong fear or excitement

is focused on blunt fear shock rather than shivery sensation
to send shivers down someone's spine
vsto scare the bejesus out of
  • Informal
1 6.0

Cause someone to feel a sudden strong fear or excitement

is more blunt sudden fright rather than mixed thrill feeling
to make someone's skin crawl
vsto scare the bejesus out of
  • Informal
7.4

Cause a strong feeling of fear or disgust with a creepy physical feeling

is mainly sudden vivid fright rather than long uneasy disgust
to affright
vsto scare the bejesus out of
  • Archaic
9.9

To cause sudden fear in someone

is modern vivid speech used in everyday informal contexts

Antonyms

to comfort
172 1.0

To make someone feel less upset or in pain

to reassure
163 3.4

To make someone feel less worried and more confident

How Scary

to terrify
148 3.2
to scare the bejesus out of
  • Informal
5 8.8
to frighten
540 1.0
to startle
131 3.7

Surface Forms

scare the bejesus out of infinitive
scared the bejesus out of past
scared the bejesus out of past participle
scaring the bejesus out of present participle
scares the bejesus out of third person singular

Morphology

scare + the + bejesus + out + of

The verb 'scare' combined with the pattern 'scare the X out of (someone)' yields a partially predictable meaning of causing strong fear, so a learner who knows 'scare' and 'out of' may infer that someone is frightened. However, 'bejesus' is an idiomatic, culturally marked intensifier (an interjection/euphemism) whose contribution to the degree of fear is not obvious to a B1 learner without exposure, so the expression is not fully transparent.

Etymology

The idiom scare the bejesus out of comes from an old exclamation using the name 'Jesus', where people would shout words like 'By Jesus!' when they were shocked and this speech softened into the milder word bejesus. So to scare someone 'the bejesus out of' them is to make them so shocked they might shout that word, which is why it means 'to frighten someone very much'.