scared shitless
Very frightened, terrified, scared witless.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“I was scared shitless during the horror movie.”
“When the engine started making strange noises mid-flight, the passengers were absolutely scared shitless.”
“As the storm intensified and the small boat began to take on water, the crew members were scared shitless, fearing that their final hour had arrived.”
- 01
run scared
To be in a state of fearful alarm.
- 02
scare someone to death
To frighten someone very much.
- 03
scare story
A rumour spread by a scaremonger in order to cause anxiety.
- 04
scare straight
To frighten (someone) to such a degree that a significant improvement in behavior results.
- 05
scare the life out of
To scare something or someone to a great degree.
- 06
scare the living daylights out of
To scare something or someone to a large degree.
- 07
scare the pants off
To scare or startle someone thoroughly.
- 08
scared green
Extremely scared; terrified.
Last updated August 10, 2026