Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "psych" []

  • To put into the right psychological frame of mind: The coach psyched the team before the game. (verb-transitive)
  • To excite emotionally: The children were psyched to see the circus. (verb-transitive)
  • To undermine the confidence of by psychological means; intimidate: "Depending on whose personality is stronger, one can more easily psych the other” ( Harold C. Schonberg). (verb-transitive)
  • To analyze, solve, or comprehend. (verb-transitive)
  • To anticipate or guess the intentions of: "Most others could never approach [his] ability ... to psyche out the opposition's thinking so consistently” ( Steven Brill). (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "psych" in a sentence
  • "I call it psych, and some of that psych is bound to rub off."
  • "This quote from Mises on behavioral psych is relevant to this issue of determinism, too:"
  • "Instead, his latest release reaffirms his hunger, and he's named it after one of his first bands, pre-Zeppelin psych rockers Band Of Joy."