aphasia

American  

[uh-fey-zhuh] / əˈfeɪ ʒə /

noun

Pathology.

1. an impairment of a previously held ability to produce or understand spoken, written, or signed language, due to disease or injury of the brain.

---

aphasia British  

/ əˈfeɪzɪə /

noun

1. a disorder of the central nervous system characterized by partial or total loss of the ability to communicate, esp in speech or writing Compare alexia

---

aphasia Scientific  

/ ə-fā′zhə /

1. Partial or total loss of the ability to articulate ideas or comprehend spoken or written language, resulting from damage to the brain that is caused by injury or disease.

---

Other Word Forms

• aphasiac adjective

Etymology

Origin of aphasia

First recorded in 1865–70; from Greek: literally “speechlessness,” equivalent to a- a- ⁶ + phat(ós) “spoken” (derivative of phánai “to speak”) + -ia -ia

Compare meaning

How does aphasia compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• aphagia vs. aphasia

Example Sentences

Text-prediction large language models do exactly the task that people with aphasia struggle with, and they really excel at finding the next word in a sequence.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026

WSJ: You work with people with dementia who suffer from aphasia, or difficulty finding words.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026

Future MLB stars Prince Fielder, Zack Greinke, Casey Kotchman, and brothers Rickie and Jemile Weeks trained under Lemon, who also established the Chet Lemon Foundation, which provides support for people affected by strokes and aphasia.

From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2025

On Thursday, Williams called into "The Breakfast Club" denouncing her dementia and aphasia diagnosis.

From Salon • Jan. 16, 2025

Destruction of the visual speech centre produces visual aphasia or alexia.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo" by Various