as in to brace
to prepare (oneself) mentally or emotionally
I have to psych myself up before every swimming competition
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for psych (up)
Verb
-
On April 14th, as Kyiv braced for a round of Russian strikes, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, was seven hundred and fifty miles away, in Berlin, forging a defense agreement with Germany, part of a tour of European allies to raise support for military aid.—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
28 Apr. 2026 -
But as the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season nears, many Floridians are bracing for the storm, and that includes buying a hurricane preparedness kit, getting the hurricane shutters out of the garage, and/or devising what to do with your car.—
Jennifer Sangalang,
USA Today,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Breslow’s job was to fortify that group, and his trade for first baseman Willson Contreras was not enough of an answer.—
Ken Rosenthal,
New York Times,
26 Apr. 2026
-
Particularly so at the positions that Denver still needs to fortify.—
Parker Gabriel,
Denver Post,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Inside the nearly empty Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown LA last Monday afternoon, the air rumbles and judders and roars like a B-52 engine readying for takeoff.—
Erik Pedersen,
Daily News,
30 Apr. 2026
-
And across the street from Hyde Park Academy, construction crews swarmed to ready the Obama Presidential Center behemoth for its Juneteenth opening date.—
Hannah Edgar,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Apr. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Psych (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/psych%20%28up%29. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
