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psych

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psych¹

  • /saɪk/ US, UK

Sounds like cyc, sike · Rhymes with -aɪk

Where it comes from

Clipping of psychiatry and psychology.

noun

  1. abbreviation, attributive, clipping, informal, often, uncountable Clipping of psychiatry
  2. attributive, informal, often, uncountable A psychiatric hospital or other treatment facility; also, a psychiatric department or ward in such a facility. He had to be involuntarily committed to the psych ward.
  3. abbreviation, attributive, clipping, informal, often, uncountable Clipping of psychology I took psych in my freshman year at college.

psych²

  • /saɪk/ US, UK

Sounds like cyc, sike · Rhymes with -aɪk

Where it comes from

Clipping of psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and psychologist.

noun psychs · psyche

  1. abbreviation, attributive, clipping, informal, often Clipping of psychiatrist [S]he had had what she declared was a momentous series of meetings with [Sigmund] Freud in Vienna. She had attended a conference of psychs at which he had presided and they had taken a fancy to each other.
  2. abbreviation, attributive, clipping, informal, often Clipping of psychologist; also, a clipping of psychoanalyst.

psych³

  • /saɪk/ US, UK

Sounds like cyc, sike · Rhymes with -aɪk

Where it comes from

Clipping of psychoanalyse.

verb psychs · psyching · psyched

  1. abbreviation, attributive, clipping, informal, often, transitive Clipping of psychoanalyse (“to treat (someone) using psychoanalysis”); also, to carry out psychological testing on (someone). Prisoners brought from all the lockups in the city were unloaded here. […] They trooped in to be psyched, social-worked, assigned to cells.
  2. attributive, broadly, informal, often, transitive Chiefly followed by out: to analyse (something), especially psychologically; also (generally), to work out (something).

psych⁴

  • /saɪk/ US, UK

Sounds like cyc, sike · Rhymes with -aɪk

Where it comes from

The verb is a clipping of psychologize.

The interjection is probably derived from the verb.

verb psychs · psyching · psyched · psyche · sike

  1. also, attributive, informal, often, reflexive, transitive Often followed by out: to deceive, intimidate, or otherwise manipulate (someone or oneself) emotionally or using psychology.
  2. also, attributive, informal, often, reflexive, transitive Often followed by up: to put (someone or oneself) into a mental or psychological state where one is ready for some (often challenging) experience; specifically, to make (someone or oneself) enthusiastic or excited about something. Hip hop always gets me psyched, so I put it on before a race.
  3. attributive, informal, intransitive, often, transitive Of a person: to get into a mental or psychological state where one is ready for some (often challenging) experience; specifically, to make oneself enthusiastic or excited about something.
  4. US, attributive, informal, intransitive, often, transitive Followed by out: to become mentally confused or disturbed.

interjection

  1. attributive, informal, often, slang, transitive Used to indicate jokingly that a statement which one has made was false and that one has successfully fooled the person whom one is speaking to; just kidding!, not!, tricked you! Here, have fifty dollars. Psych! That was two dollars!
  2. attributive, informal, often, slang, transitive Used to express surprised happiness; wow! Psych! I just found my missing bracelet!

    Similar: adzooks, ay, caramba, mirabile dictu, chihuahua, begorra, bleeding heck, bleeding Nora, bless my heart, bless my soul, bless us, blige

psych⁵

  • /saɪk/ US, UK

Sounds like cyc, sike · Rhymes with -aɪk

Where it comes from

The noun is a clipping of psychic (noun).

The verb is a clipping of psychic (adjective) in psychic bid. It is attested slightly earlier than the noun.

noun psyches · psyche

  1. abbreviation, attributive, clipping, informal, often, rare Clipping of psychic (“a person who possesses, or appears to possess, extra-sensory abilities such as clairvoyance, precognition, and telepathy, or who appears to be susceptible to paranormal or supernatural influences”).
  2. abbreviation, attributive, clipping, informal, often, slang Clipping of psychic or psychic bid (“a bid intended to mislead opponents by giving a false impression about one's hand of playing cards”).

verb psychs · psyching · psyched · psyche

  1. attributive, informal, often, slang, transitive To make (a bid) intended to mislead opponents by giving a false impression about one's hand of playing cards.
  2. attributive, informal, often, slang, transitive To deceive (an opponent or opponents) with such a psychic bid.
  3. attributive, informal, intransitive, often, slang, transitive To make a bid intended to mislead opponents by giving a false impression about one's hand of playing cards; to make a psychic bid.

psych⁶

  • /saɪk/ US, UK

Sounds like cyc, sike · Rhymes with -aɪk

Where it comes from

The adjective is a clipping of psychedelic (adjective).

The noun is a clipping of psychedelic rock.

adjective more psych · most psych · psyche

  1. abbreviation, attributive, clipping, informal, often, slang Clipping of psychedelic (“of, containing, generating, or reminiscent of drug-induced altered awareness, distortions of perception, hallucinations, etc.”). curtains with psych colours    psych-rock
  2. attributive, informal, often, slang, transitive Of or relating to psychedelic rock music. a psych album    a psych band

noun

  1. abbreviation, attributive, clipping, informal, often, slang Clipping of psychedelic rock (“a genre of rock music influenced by psychedelia, blues, electronic music, folk music, jazz, and the hippie counterculture of the 1960s”).

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: psychiatric, psychologist, therapist, psychoanalyst, psychiatrist, psychiatry, psychological, psychology, mental, shrink, emotional, analyst, psycho, asylum, install, gotcha

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Cite this
MLA

"psych." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/psych. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

psych. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/psych

Chicago

"psych." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/psych.

BibTeX
@misc{psych_2026,
  title = {psych},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/psych},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}