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Glite Dictionary
to scare the hell out of

to scare the hell out of

56 6.7
To make someone very afraid
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : dar un susto de muerte a
  • The horror movie was so terrifying that it scared the hell out of the entire audience.
  • scare the hell out of people
  • just scare the hell out of someone
  • scare the hell out of a kid

And nothing scares the hell out of people more than this conversation in that frame.

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Examples

  • The loud thunder scared the hell out of me during the storm.

  • That sudden loud noise scared the hell out of him when he least expected it.

  • L, you scared the hell out of me.

    Tina and Lori (2021)

  • Oh, Jesus, you scared the hell out of me!

    To All a Goodnight (1980)

  • You scared the hell out of me!

    Prom Night (2008)

  • You scared the hell out of me.

    Hansel and Gretel (1983)

  • Yeah, come on in... you scared the hell out of me!

    Fiction book (1995)

  • I must have made this jump fifty times, and every time it scared the hell out of me.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Yeah, that used to scare the hell out of me when I was a kid.

    Easter Sunday (2022)

  • "Penny," he said, "Penny, you scared the hell out of me."

    Fiction book (1992)

Synonyms

to scare
vsto scare the hell out of
∞ 1.0

To make someone feel afraid or unsure of themselves

is stronger emotionally and more intense than this general fear
to frighten
vsto scare the hell out of
540 1.0

To make someone feel afraid

is a much stronger, more intense form of that same fear
to terrify
vsto scare the hell out of
148 3.2

To make someone feel very frightened

is similar but tends to appear more in casual speech
to spook
vsto scare the hell out of
97 4.8

To suddenly frighten a person or animal so they panic

is similar but usually describes a deeper, longer-lasting fright
to horrify
vsto scare the hell out of
90 4.3

Make someone feel very shocked, afraid, or disgusted

is focused mainly on pure, very strong fear rather than disgust
to scare someone to death
vsto scare the hell out of
  • Informal
59 3.7

To frighten someone very much

is equally extreme but more commonly used in speech
to petrify
vsto scare the hell out of
7 4.8

To make someone so frightened that they cannot move or think

shares extreme fear but not necessarily the frozen physical reaction
to scare the bejesus out of
vsto scare the hell out of
  • Informal
5 8.8

To make someone very afraid

is the same extreme fear but expressed with stronger informal language
to scare the bejesus
vsto scare the hell out of
  • Informal
5 9.0

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

matches its intensity but usually adds rough or slangy colour
to scare the pants off
vsto scare the hell out of
  • Informal
3 8.2

To frighten someone very much

expresses that same strong fear but with a different informal image
to put the fear of God into
vsto scare the hell out of
  • Informal
3 8.2

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

expresses plain strong fear without the authority or respect element
to scare the living daylights out of
vsto scare the hell out of
  • Informal
3 6.9

To frighten someone very much

conveys the same intensity but in a shorter colloquial form
to scare the life out of
vsto scare the hell out of
  • Informal
3 5.6

To make someone very afraid

is similar yet often used as a coarse spoken expression
to fright
vsto scare the hell out of
2 3.2

To make someone feel afraid

is the verbal action that produces a far stronger fear
to send chills down someone's spine
vsto scare the hell out of
  • Informal
1 5.9

Make someone feel a sudden strong fear or excitement

focuses more on pure, strong fear rather than mixed sensations
to send shivers down someone's spine
vsto scare the hell out of
  • Informal
1 6.0

Cause someone to feel a sudden strong fear or excitement

is centered on strong fright without the bodily shiver image
to knock the living daylights out of
vsto scare the hell out of
  • Offensive
9.9

To hit someone very hard or to shock someone very much

refers only to intense fear, not to physical violence
to affright
vsto scare the hell out of
  • Archaic
9.9

To cause sudden fear in someone

is the modern informal expression for very strong fright
to do someone a frighten
vsto scare the hell out of
  • Irish
9.9

To suddenly scare someone and make them jump

is more forceful and serious rather than playful or joking

Antonyms

to soothe
63 3.4

To make someone feel calmer or reduce their pain

How Scary

to petrify
7 4.8
to scare the hell out of
  • Informal
56 6.7
to frighten
540 1.0
to startle
131 3.7

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

scare + the + hell + out + of

There is a clear link between 'scare' (to cause fear) and 'hell' used as a figurative intensifier, so the phrase signals extreme fright; however the fixed pattern 'the hell out of' is idiomatic, colloquial, and somewhat vulgar, not a fully regular compositional pattern. A B1 learner who only knows the constituent words might guess strong fear but would not reliably predict the exact construction or degree of informality, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Scare the hell out of is a strong picture: one popular story says it shows a fright so powerful that it pushes hell, a word for extreme fear, out of you, with scare showing the action. So it means 'to frighten someone very much'.