traumatize
Americanverb (used with object)
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traumatizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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traumatized,
past participle, past
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traumatizing
present participle
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Pathology. to injure (tissues) by force or by thermal, chemical, etc., agents.
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Psychiatry. to cause a trauma in (the mind).
to be traumatized by a childhood experience.
verb
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(tr) to wound or injure (the body)
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to subject or be subjected to mental trauma
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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traumatizesimple
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traumatizessimple
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have traumatizedperfect
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has traumatizedperfect
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am traumatizingprogressive
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are traumatizingprogressive
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is traumatizingprogressive
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have been traumatizingperfect progressive
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has been traumatizingperfect progressive
Past
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traumatizedsimple
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had traumatizedperfect
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was traumatizingprogressive
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were traumatizingprogressive
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had been traumatizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of traumatize
First recorded in 1900–05, traumatize is from the Greek word traumatízein to wound. See traumatic, -ize
Explanation
To traumatize someone is to make them feel a severe, lasting sense of shock and hurt. Being in a bad car accident can traumatize anyone. In medicine, to traumatize is to hurt or injure physically, but this verb is used more often in everyday speech to mean "harm psychologically or emotionally." War and violence traumatize many people around the world, and even something as seemingly harmless as a scary movie can traumatize a young child. Traumatize comes from trauma, "physical wound" in medical Latin and "a wound, hurt, or defeat" in Greek.
Vocabulary lists containing traumatize
"Mammoth Shakes and Monster Waves" Vocabulary from the informational text
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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:
Johnston carries the film and the emotional core, but Navarrette delivers the kind of instantly classic horror turn that will surely traumatize Gen Z for years.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
In this way, “The Sheep Detectives” recalls an earlier era of children’s movies that weren’t afraid to lightly traumatize their young audiences.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
“This country has done nothing but traumatize me in the last six months. Maybe I’ll just move to Spain.”
From Slate ● Dec. 11, 2025
There are certainly examples of students and consumers of culture making suspect claims that certain words or images traumatize them.
From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2024
“We didn’t mean to traumatize you. This isn’t how I imagined this going.”
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
When you have people saying this artwork traumatizes me, it hurts me, and it’s not generating a conversation, then you have to wonder: What is its purpose?
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2023
Writing from her own experience, O'Neil digs into the ways in which shame conditions and traumatizes those whose bodies don't adhere to beauty industry norms.
From Salon ● Apr. 17, 2022
When patients tell her they’re using an at-home file, “I cringe, because what that does is it actually traumatizes the skin, and then your body gets drier and it adds more calluses,” she said.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 19, 2022
It traumatizes them and leads to worse outcomes later.
From Seattle Times ● May 20, 2019
And fleeing war traumatizes many migrants, further complicating their assimilation.
From New York Times ● Oct. 7, 2015
“The baby boom generation is still traumatized by the bubble,” says Jesper Koll, global ambassador for booster group FinCity.Tokyo.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
As one battered, traumatized survivor declares at the battle’s conclusion, “If this be victory, I hope I never see another.”
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026
Court reporters—who often rely on nonverbal cues and work with traumatized witnesses—are an example of AI’s limitations in replacing human skill in the real world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
Those choices will matter to a traumatized society whose members will insist on having a say in the decisions.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
But it was also clear that people had been traumatized by what had happened.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
“The experience was traumatizing, degrading and humiliating,” André said when the lawsuit was filed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Fireworks are also traumatizing for pets, particularly dogs, which tremble and even bolt from their homes in fear.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
The now famous “seven fishes” episode featured a memorable if traumatizing performance by Jamie Lee Curtis as the Berzatto family’s mad mother, Donna; the Richie-centric episode “Forks” was simply genius television.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Divorce is a traumatizing event, and your friend has moved on in a productive and forward-looking manner.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
“This must be very traumatizing for you. It’s not every day one finds out his father is actually a pretty nice guy.”
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
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.
