the bejesus

noun

informal

—used for emphasis after words like scare, frighten, and beat

That movie scared the bejesus out of me.

They beat the bejesus out of the other team.

Examples of the bejesus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The president doesn’t understand why Zelenskyy is not happy with Putin for invading the smaller country and beating the bejesus out of it, for decimating a generation of young Ukrainian soldiers, for breaking ceasefires and committing war crimes. —Maureen Dowd, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2025

When Jennifer Lawrence isn’t full-frontally beating the bejesus out of insouciant hoodlums, that is. —Charles Bramesco, Vulture, 10 Feb. 2025

Morato looks like a cartel Sicario and scares the bejesus out of the opposition. —Ahmed Walid, The Athletic, 7 Feb. 2025

Those companies sued the bejesus out of prominent election deniers, including Fox News (which settled with Dominion for just under $800 million), Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, Trump sorta-lawyer-but-now-disbarred Rudy Giuliani and that dude who sells pillows. —Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024

Zoom in: Just about every neighborhood in RVA has a house where locals went all out to scare the bejesus out of you, or just offer some whimsical holiday fun (like an alien invasion). —Karri Peifer, Axios, 30 Oct. 2024

If reading this book inspired by a true story of a child possessed by demons doesn’t scare the bejesus out of you, nothing will. —Sharon Virts, People.com, 5 Oct. 2024

The unachievable ideal of, say, a 95% voter turnout in any election would scare the bejesus out of practically everyone in political power. —Jay Reddick, Orlando Sentinel, 13 June 2024

The Redondo Beach Pier, first built in 1888 as a lumber wharf, burned spectacularly in 1988, perhaps from an electrical short from damage by two immense storms that had just beaten the bejesus out of the place. —Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 5 June 2024