trauma

American  

[trau-muh, traw-] / ˈtraʊ mə, ˈtrɔ- /

noun

• traumas,
  plural
• traumata
  plural

1. Pathology.

   1. a body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident.

   2. the condition produced by this; traumatism.

2. Psychiatry.

   1. an experience that produces psychological injury or pain.

   2. the psychological injury so caused.

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trauma British  

/ ˈtrɔːmə /

noun

1. psychol a powerful shock that may have long-lasting effects

2. pathol any bodily injury or wound

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trauma Scientific  

/ trô′mə,trou′- /

1. Severe bodily injury, as from a gunshot wound or a motor vehicle accident.

2. Psychological or emotional injury caused by a deeply disturbing experience.

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trauma Cultural  

1. Wounds that result from sudden physical injury or violence.

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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

• traumatic
  adjective
• traumatically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• traumas
  plural
• traumata
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of trauma

First recorded in 1685–95, trauma is from the Greek word traûma wound

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trauma traumas traumata

Vanetsky said her grandson was struggling at home in the wake of the trauma he'd been through.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

The researchers say the scale of the demographic collapse has important implications for understanding intergenerational trauma, persistent disadvantage, and the development of policies that better support Indigenous communities.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026

I believe it helps enormously to know that this was a shared, collective trauma, and that many millions of people around the world also went through what you experienced.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

"Christa is dealing with the profound psychological trauma of having survived a failed execution, including the terror, pain and uncertainty of believing she was about to die," her legal team said.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

He dug down through the descriptions of skin changes due to trauma.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

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

Posing painful questions to ourselves about our own traumas and struggles can be therapeutic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

That is where we break generational cycles and traumas.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

But he was still recovering from the trauma of the war as well as some serious traumas that preceded his military experience.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

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

He received several head traumata and suffered from enuresis in his early life.

From The Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Volume 10 by Various

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

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

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Related Words

• agony
• anguish
• blow
• confusion
• damage
• injury
• ordeal
• shock
• strain
• stress
• suffering
• torture
• upheaval
• wound

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