aphasia

noun

apha·​sia ə-ˈfā-zh(ē-)ə 

medical : loss or impairment of the power to use or comprehend words usually resulting from brain damage (as from a stroke, head injury, or infection)

Aphasia, the cruel illness resulting from a stroke, allowed Jean to understand what was said to her but prevented her from clearly replying.

—Robert Giroux

aphasic

ə-ˈfā-zik 

noun or adjective

Examples of aphasia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The foundation focuses on stroke and aphasia awareness and supporting music education in schools. —Christina Dugan Ramirez, FOXNews.com, 24 Apr. 2026

In recent years, Heming Willis has been by Willis' side following his aphasia diagnosis in March 2022. —Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 12 Apr. 2026

Willis, 70, retired from acting in 2022 after being diagnosed with aphasia, a language disorder. —Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 28 Jan. 2026

For the family, the advice is always the same: be patient, ask simple questions that can be answered with a nod or a shake of the head, speak slowly, don’t finish sentences for the person suffering from aphasia, and don’t correct their mistakes. —Elisa Shua Dusapin, Literary Hub, 9 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French aphasie, from a- a- entry 2 + Greek phásis "utterance, statement" (from pha-, variant stem of phēmí, phánai "to say, speak" + -sis -sis) + French -ie -ia entry 1 — more at ban entry 1

Note: French aphasie was introduced by the physician Armand Trousseau (1801-67) in "De l'aphasie, maladie décrite récemment sous le nom impropre de l'aphémie," Gazette des hôpitaux civils et militaires, tome 37, issue of January 12, 1864, pp. 13-14. As is evident from the title, Trousseau preferred aphasie to the term aphémie, introduced earlier by physician and anthropologist Pierre Paul Broca (1824-80). Broca replied in defense of his coinage in a letter published in the same periodical on January 23. The controversy, with translated extracts from Gazette des hôpitaux, is summarized by John Ryalls in "Where does the term 'aphasia' come from?," Brain and Language, vol. 21 (1984), pp. 358-63. Though Trousseau's arguments are linguistically not at all sound, his choice has nonetheless prevailed.

First Known Use

1864, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for aphasia

• aplasia
• dysplasia
• fantasia
• achalasia
• euthanasia
• hyperplasia
• hypoplasia
• metaplasia
• neoplasia
• telangiectasia

Medical Definition

aphasia

noun

apha·​sia ə-ˈfā-zh(ē-)ə 

: loss or impairment of the power to use or comprehend words usually resulting from brain damage (as from a stroke, head injury, or infection) see motor aphasia compare amusia, anarthria