scared

be scared shitless (British, American & Australian, taboo, American, taboo)

to be very frightened. I was woken by the sound of someone moving around downstairs - I was scared shitless!

See also: scare, shitless

be shit scared (taboo!)

to be very frightened. But you hate heights! I bet you were shit scared on the big wheel.

See also: scare, shit

run scared (mainly American)

to be worried that you are going to be defeated. There are rumours that the Democrats are running scared after recent opinion polls showed their rivals to be way out in front. (usually in continuous tenses)

See also: run, scare

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scared shitless

extremely frightened. I was scared shitless when I first moved out here, but things still worked out fine in the end.

See also: scare, shitless

scared stiff

extremely frightened. Jill awoke from a dream that left her afraid — scared stiff, in fact.

Etymology: from the idea that you are stiff (= unable to bend or change your position) because you are too frightened to move

See also: scare, stiff