walking wounded

noun

1. casualties, as of a military conflict, who are wounded but ambulatory.

2. Informal.,  persons who have been damaged or defeated psychologically or emotionally by their experiences in life.

Word History and Origins

Origin of walking wounded¹

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

It's pertinent to add that those tensions at Tottenham have eased in recent weeks as the club's walking wounded returned to availability, while Postecoglou has sought to factor in more days off for his players in recent months - their elimination from the Carabao Cup and FA Cup allowing him extra leeway.

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We watch another two dozen injured Ukrainian soldiers being loaded on to a bus to be taken to a hospital in Dnipro – some walking wounded, others carried on stretchers.

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Ellis Williams, who was sitting in the front passenger, seat was the only "walking wounded" survivor of the crash.

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And now many of these mostly small and mid-sized walking wounded could soon be facing their day of reckoning, with due dates looming on hundreds of billions of dollars of loans they may not be able to pay back.

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"I think that he indulged in some monstrous behaviour without ever quite being a monster himself, but more like the walking wounded," he says.

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