Mind and body

Irrational

Not using reason or clear thinking (It's totally irrational, but I'm frightened of mice.)

To hit like a tidal wave

To feel a very strong emotion or realization (When I saw the final scene of the movie, it hit me like a tidal wave — I suddenly understood what the story was really about.)

To pop out of thin air

To appear suddenly and unexpectedly (I was looking for my keys for ten minutes, and then they just popped out of thin air on the table.

To put one’s finger on something

To identify the exact cause, problem, or detail (I knew something felt strange about the story, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was until I reread the ending.)

To mismatch

To put together people or things that are unsuitable for each other (I always thought Chris and Monique were mismatched, so I wasn't surprised when they got divorced.)

Prompt

(of an action) Done quickly and without delay, or (of a person) acting quickly or arriving at the arranged time (They've written back already - that was a very prompt reply.)

Full-blown

Completely developed (full-blown AIDS.)

Precipitant

Something that makes something else happen suddenly or sooner than expected (Was the war the precipitant of the revolutionary transformation of Russia?)

To muster courage

To gather or build up enough bravery to do something difficult or scary (She finally mustered the courage to speak in front of the class.)

To run in families

a trait, habit, condition, or tendency appears in several members of the same family (Musical talent runs in their family — everyone plays an instrument.)

Moral Crusaders

People or groups who strongly campaign to enforce what they believe is morally right (Some moral crusaders wanted violent video games banned because they believed they were harmful to society.)

Fearmonger

Someone who intentionally tries to make people afraid of something when this is not necessary or reasonable (He dismissed those warning about the dangers of the virus as fearmongers.)

Fear entrepreneur

A person who create, exaggerate, or spread fear about a problem—often for their own benefit (A politician acting as a fear entrepreneur might exaggerate crime statistics to make people feel unsafe and support their policies.)

Alarmist

Someone who makes people worried by telling them about bad or dangerous things when it is not necessary or helpful (Some in the insurance industry consider Weiss an alarmist, but others think his predictions are accurate.)

Demonologist

Someone who studies demons, evil spirits, or beliefs about demonic forces (In horror stories, the characters often call a demonologist when they believe a house is possessed.)

Health activist

Someone who actively works to improve public health, promote healthier lifestyles, or fight for better healthcare policies (A health activist organized a campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated in her community.)

Fear promoter

Someone who actively spreads or emphasizes fear about an issue, often to influence people’s behavior, opinions, or emotions (A fear promoter might constantly talk about rare plane crashes to make people afraid of flying.)

Fear marketer

Someone who uses fear as a strategy to persuade or influence others, often for profit, attention, or support (A company that exaggerates the risk of break-ins to sell more security systems is using fear marketing — they’re acting as fear marketers.)

Prophet of doom

Someone who constantly predicts disaster, failure, or very negative outcomes, often in an exaggerated or overly pessimistic way (Don’t listen to him — he’s always a prophet of doom, saying the economy will collapse every month.)

To talk up

To speak with enthusiasm about something, often so that it sounds better than it really is (The sales team has been keen to talk up the promotion.)

To make somebody's flesh creep

To scare or disgust someone so much that they get a shiver (The way the old doll stared at me in the dark made my flesh creep.)

To have/get butterflies (in your stomach)

To feel very nervous, usually about something you are going to do (I had terrible butterflies before I gave that talk in Venice.)

To give somebody the creeps

To cause someone to have uncomfortable feelings of nervousness or fear (Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.)

To give someone the squeeby-jeebies / the heebie-jeebies

To make someone feel very uncomfortable, creeped out, or scared in a nervous, shivery way (That abandoned house gives me the heebie-jeebies every time I walk past it.)

To give someone the willies

To make someone feel nervous, creeped out, or uneasy (That clown mask gives me the willies — I don’t know why, but it’s really unsettling.)

To give someone the jitters

To make someone feel nervous, jumpy, or anxious (Drinking too much coffee gives me the jitters.)

To put the wind up somebody/get the wind up

(British expression) to scare someone or make them very nervous or worried (The loud bang really put the wind up me/He got the wind up when he heard footsteps behind him in the dark.)

Shiver

The act of shaking slightly because you are frightened, cold, or ill (I felt/gave a shiver as I looked out at the dark expanse of sea.)

To send shivers/chills up (and down) your spine

to make you feel a sudden, intense emotion (The ghost story sent shivers down my spine.)

To shudder

To shake suddenly with very small movements because of a very unpleasant thought or feeling (The sight of so much blood made him shudder.)

To chill somebody to the bone / chill somebody to the marrow / chill somebody's blood

to make someone feel very frightened (If you're worried about global warming, her projections will chill you to the bone.)

Spine-chilling

Very frightening (He told them a spine-chilling ghost story.)

To make somebody's blood run cold / freeze

To frighten someone very deeply (The scream in the empty house made my blood run cold)

To be as white as a sheet:

To look extremely pale, usually because of fear, shock, or sudden illness (After hearing the strange noise behind her, she turned as white as a sheet.)

To set someone's teeth on edge

If something, especially a noise, sets your teeth on edge, it annoys you very much (That DJ's voice really sets my teeth on edge.)

To make one’s teeth chatter

To make someone shake so much that their teeth click together, usually because they are very cold or very scared (The icy wind was so strong it made my teeth chatter.)

To make someone's hair stand on end

To make someone very frightened (The thought of jumping out of a plane makes my hair stand on end.)

To put the fear of God into somebody

To scare someone very strongly, often to make them behave, obey, or stop doing something wrong (The teacher put the fear of God into the class by warning them about the final exam.)

To be scared stiff /silly / to death / out of your wits

To be extremely scared (When I heard footsteps behind me in the dark, I was scared out of my wits.)

To get gooseflesh/goosebumps

To have small bumps appear on your skin because you’re cold, scared, or strongly moved by something (The eerie music made me get gooseflesh.)

Horror-stricken (also horror-struck)

Extremely shocked and frightened (They watched, horror-struck, as the car came off the road.)

Panic-stricken

Very frightened and worried about a situation, and therefore unable to think clearly or act reasonably (The streets were full of panic-stricken people trying to escape the tear gas.)

Grief-stricken

Extremely sad because of the death of someone (extremely sad because of the death of someone.)

Poverty-stricken

Suffering from the effects of being extremely poor (Some beggars are neither poverty-stricken nor homeless.)

Terror-stricken

Extremely frightened 

To strike fear/ terror into somebody

To make someone extremely frightened (The brutal military regime has struck terror into the whole population.)

To strike fear into somebody’s heart

To make someone feel very afraid (The sight of the huge shadow struck fear into his heart)

To be struck with horror/terror/awe

To suddenly feel a strong emotion (She was struck with horror when she realized she was alone in the dark building)

Unfounded fear

A fear that has no real reason or evidence behind it (His unfounded fear of elevators kept him from riding them, even though they’re completely safe.)

Well-founded fear

A fear that has a good reason behind it (She had a well-founded fear of walking in that neighborhood at night because several robberies had happened recently.)

Fearful

Frightened or worried about something (He hesitated before calling her, fearful of what she might)

Fearsome

Frightening (A fearsome reputation)

Fearless

Having no fear (A fearless fighter.)

Risky

involving the possibility of something bad happening (It's risky to buy a car without some good advice.)

Daring

Brave and taking risks (A daring escape)

Audacious

Showing a willingness to take risks or offend people (He described the plan as ambitious and audacious.)

Bold

Not frightened of danger (She was a bold and fearless climber.)

Plucky

Brave (It was plucky of you to chase after the burglar.)

Courageous

Having or showing courage (It was a courageous decision to resign in protest at the company's pollution record.)

Brave

Showing no fear of dangerous or difficult things (It was a brave decision to quit her job and start her own business.)

Reckless

Doing something dangerous and not worrying about the risks and the possible results (These punks have a reckless disregard for the law.)

Venturesome

Used to describe a person who is willing to take risks, or an action or behaviour that involves risks (He has become more venturesome this season with dress designs that incorporate a variety of ethnic influences.)

Exasperation

The feeling of being annoyed, especially because you can do nothing to solve a problem (There is growing exasperation within the government at the failure of these policies to reduce unemployment.)

Spite

A feeling of anger towards another person that makes someone want to annoy, upset, or hurt them, especially in a small way (He's the sort of man who would let down the tyres on your car just out of/from spite.)

Vengefulness

The quality of being vengeful (He said he felt no bitterness or vengefulness toward his brother's attackers.)

Resentment

A feeling of anger because you have been forced to accept something that you do not like (He harbours a deep resentment against his parents for his miserable childhood.)

Wrath

Extreme anger (The people feared the wrath of God.)

Rage

(A period of) extreme or violent anger (I was frightened because I had never seen him in such a rage before.)

Fury

Extreme anger (He could hardly contain his fury.)

Temper

The tendency to become angry very quickly (He's got a really bad temper.)

To fuel

Something that fuels a feeling or a type of behaviour increases it or makes it stronger (The rapid promotion of the director's son has itself fuelled resentment within the company.)

Under siege

If a person or organization is under siege, they are being criticized by a lot of people or put under a lot of pressure for something that they have done (Mutual fund managers are under seige, with fresh allegations of corruption every day.)

Knee-jerk

An automatic, unthinking, or reflexive reaction to something, often without careful thought (His knee-jerk reaction was to refuse the idea without considering its merits.)

Double-edged sword

Something that acts in two ways, often with one negative and one positive effect (Fame can be a double-edged sword.)

To bolster

To support or improve something or make it stronger (More money is needed to bolster the industry.)

To flare up

When something bad such as violence, pain, or anger flares (up), it suddenly starts or gets much worse (Violence flared up again last night.)

To tame

To control something dangerous or powerful (He'll need to tame his temper if he wants to succeed.)

To push sb’s buttons

To cause a strong reaction or emotion in someone (My brother knows exactly how to push my buttons.)

To erode

To weaken or damage something by taking away parts of it gradually, or to become weaker in this way (Budget cuts could further erode the benefit package provided for by the contract.)

Scar

A sign of damage to a person's mental state (His early years in the refugee camp left a deep psychological scar.)

To boil

To feel extremely angry or full of intense emotion (When he heard the unfair accusation, he was boiling with anger.)

To drain

To make someone very tired (The long journey completely drained me.)

Rift

A serious disagreement that separates two people who have been friends and stops their friendship continuing (The marriage caused a rift between the brothers and they didn't speak to each other for ten years.)

To walk on eggshells

To be very careful not to offend or upset someone (If you're sick you don't want people treating you differently, and you really don't want people walking on eggshells around you.)

To ward off

To prevent someone or something unpleasant from harming or coming close to you (In the winter I take vitamin C to ward off colds.)

to impair

To spoil something or make it weaker so that it is less effective (A recurring knee injury may have impaired his chances of winning the tournament.)

To suppress

To prevent something from being seen or expressed or from operating (She couldn't suppress her anger/annoyance/delight.)

To be in a huff

Angry and offended (She's in a real huff because I forgot her birthday.)

To lose your temper

To suddenly become angry (The children behaved so badly that I lost my temper.)

To have a short fuse

To get angry very easily or quickly (Be careful when you talk to him in the morning — he has a short fuse before his coffee.)

To have an outburst of anger

To suddenly lose control and express strong anger (After trying to fix the computer for an hour, he had an outburst of anger and slammed the keyboard.)

To fly off the handle

To react in a very angry way to something that someone says or does (He's extremely irritable - he flies off the handle at the slightest thing.)

Go through the roof / hit the roof

To become very angry (She hit the roof when he forgot their wedding anniversary.)

To be like a red rag to a bull

To be certain to produce an angry or violent reaction (Don't tell him you're a vegetarian - it's like a red rag to a bull.)

To see red

To become very angry (People who don't finish a job really make me see red.)

To lay the groundwork (for sth)

To prepare for or start an activity or task (This study lays the groundwork for understanding the nature of different mutations of the disease.)

To shore up

To support or improve an organization, agreement, or system that is not working effectively or that is likely to fail (The new public relations manager has the difficult task of shoring up the company's troubled image.)

To grease the wheels

To make a process run more smoothly, often by giving help, incentives, or sometimes even bribes to speed things up (They greased the wheels of the approval process by offering extra support and resources to the committee.)

Full-fledged

Completely developed or trained (Within months the student had become a full-fledged instructor.)

Scaffold

(Metaphorical) Support or guidance given to help someone learn or achieve something, which is gradually removed as they become more capable (The teacher provided examples as a scaffold to help students write their own essays.)