frighten (one) out of (one's) mind

frighten (one) out of (one's) mind

To shock or scare one very suddenly or severely. Hyperbolically alludes to frightening one so severely as to cause them to become insane. Don't sneak up on me like that—you frightened me out of my mind! That car accident really frightened Janet out of her mind. She's still shaken by it. Waking up to the sound of the howler monkeys nearly frightened us out of our minds. We had no idea what we were hearing.

See also: frighten, mind, of, out

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.