frighten/scare somebody out of their wits

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

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 wits! That car accident seems to have frightened Janet out of her wits—she's still shaken by it. Waking up to the sound of the howler monkeys nearly frightened us out of our wits. We had no idea what we were hearing.

See also: frighten, of, out, wit

scare (one) out of (one's) wits

To shock or frighten one very suddenly or severely. (Hyperbolically alludes to scaring one so badly that they lose their sanity.) Don't sneak up on me like that, you scared me out of my wits! That car accident seems to have scared Janet out of her wits. She's still shaken by it.

See also: of, out, scare, wit

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

frighten/scare somebody out of their ˈwits

frighten somebody very much: I was scared out of my wits when I looked out of the window and saw the aircraft’s engine on fire.

See also: frighten, of, out, scare, somebody, wit

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017