combat fatigue

noun

: post-traumatic stress disorder occurring under wartime conditions (such as combat) that cause intense stress : battle fatigue, shell shock

Nearly a half-million American soldiers were battle casualties during the fighting in Europe; by 1945 another 111,000 neuropsychiatric cases—then usually called combat fatigue—had been treated.

—Roger J. Spiller

The psychological strain he continues to endure has had many names over the years. In World War I, it was shell shock. In World War II, it was combat fatigue …

—Steven Lee Meyers

Examples of combat fatigue in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

On Friday night, armed men in combat fatigues burst into the Crocus City Hall, a popular concert venue, and methodically began shooting the audience, before setting the place ablaze. —CBS News, 24 Mar. 2024

Sherman, dressed in his old combat fatigues, refused to be dislodged. —Elliot Ackerman, WIRED, 12 Feb. 2024

Two men in combat fatigues, carrying rifles, guarded the main entrance. —Isabelle Qian, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2023

By replenishing important minerals like sodium, potassium, and magnesium, this supplement helps combat fatigue and keeps you feeling energized throughout your fast. —Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 28 Aug. 2023

Iron: Essential when there’s a deficiency, iron helps combat fatigue. —The Salt Lake Tribune, 16 Aug. 2023

Prigozhin wore combat fatigues and waved a Russian flag. —Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 31 July 2023

In a farmer’s field an hour’s drive outside of Kyiv, a man in combat fatigues kneels in the dust like a supplicant, one arm raised to the heavens, holding a quadcopter on his outstretched palm. —WIRED, 25 July 2023

People come in dressed in jeans and business suits, in the rough attire of construction workers, in frilly dresses or combat fatigues. —Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1943, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

combat fatigue

noun

com·​bat fatigue ˈkäm-ˌbat- 

: post-traumatic stress disorder occurring under wartime conditions (as combat) that cause intense stress

called also battle fatigue, shell shock, war neurosis