shell-shocked

American

[shel-shahkt] / ˈʃɛlˌʃɑkt /

adjective

Archaic. suffering from battle fatigue or other post-traumatic stress disorder from war.

shell-shocked British

adjective

suffering from shell shock
in a state of stunned confusion or shock; dazed

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Dubois winked to his corner but looked shell-shocked.

From BBC • May 9, 2026

After the match, the shell-shocked Sharapova explained that the tricky winds made her unsure whether her balls were going to land in, undermining her laser-like groundstokes and confidence.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 7, 2026

Stokes said he was shell-shocked in some tetchy post-match media interactions, comments that were used against the captain as England lost the PR battle in the days after the Test.

From BBC • Dec. 21, 2025

“People are shell-shocked right now,” Chris Diodato, a financial planner focusing on early retirement and founder of Wellth Financial Planning, told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 3, 2025

From her shell-shocked expression, I wonder if she’s also hit her quota of strange creatures for the day.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023