trauma
Americannoun
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traumas,
plural
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traumata
plural
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Pathology.
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a body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident.
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the condition produced by this; traumatism.
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Psychiatry.
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an experience that produces psychological injury or pain.
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the psychological injury so caused.
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noun
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psychol a powerful shock that may have long-lasting effects
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pathol any bodily injury or wound
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Severe bodily injury, as from a gunshot wound or a motor vehicle accident.
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Psychological or emotional injury caused by a deeply disturbing experience.
Usage
What does trauma mean? Trauma refers to a sudden, serious body injury or shock, as from violence or an accident, as in The car accident resulted in trauma to the arms and legs of the passenger. Trauma also refers to a serious psychological injury or emotional pain, as from being involved in a disturbing or horrible incident, as in The trauma caused by years of war still gives the soldier nightmares. Trauma is also used to refer to the specific incidents that cause both of these types of serious damage, as in The flood survivors never spoke of the trauma they experienced that day. Example: The victim suffered from internal bleeding caused by repeated trauma to the chest.
Discover More
The term is frequently used to describe an emotional shock that causes serious psychological damage.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of trauma
First recorded in 1685–95, trauma is from the Greek word traûma wound
Explanation
A trauma is a shock to the body or spirit. A car accident can cause physical trauma like broken bones while losing your dog on a walk is an emotional trauma. When you think of trauma think of blunt force. Trauma tends to come on all at once and be quite serious. Someone who experiences trauma will have either a traumatic injury or traumatic distress. Try not to use this term lightly. If you say that having to wait twenty minutes for a burger was a trauma, people will rightly accuse you of drama.
Vocabulary lists containing trauma
Touching Spirit Bear
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"High School Football"
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"Why I Wrote The Crucible"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She says that it is a difficult balance to redesign the kibbutz so that it feels like home but does not cause new trauma to those who return.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
With both Hal and John, so much of their intergenerational trauma is tied to their fathers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
The daughter of Holocaust survivors, Schuster had worked with Hijazi to process that trauma.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
The trauma has also taken a toll on his social life.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
Luckily, the jacket is about thirty sizes too big for me, shielding me from trauma.
From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle
Others are putting their money on Antiguan-American author Jamaica Kincaid, whose work deals with exile, identity and the traumas inherited from colonialism, or on Chinese writer Can Xue.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
"It's good to help others get through major disasters and traumas."
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
The Lincoln’s fate has been the most heavily publicized, but it isn’t the only aircraft carrier to suffer these traumas.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
Brooke Warner, publisher of She Writes Press and co-host of the Memoir Nation podcast, says this has put pressure on memoirists to push the envelope and find ever-more-shocking traumas to mine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Such overwhelming traumas tear at the bonds that hold cultures together.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Absorption takes place from the inner surface of the uterus or from traumata in the genital canal.
From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various
We shall refer later on to those other exactly similar cases of cyclical depression which can nevertheless easily be traced back to mental traumata.
From Group Psychology and The Analysis of The Ego by Sigmund Freud
The principal causes of primary keratitis are traumata and infection from the conjunctiva.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 1 "Evangelical Church Conference" to "Fairbairn, Sir William" by Various
He received several head traumata and suffered from enuresis in his early life.
From The Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Volume 10 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
