gender dysphoria

noun

: a distressed state arising from conflict between a person's gender identity and the sex the person was identified as having at birth

I am a 24-year-old transgender woman, and I know gender dysphoria very well. My distress over my physical body, my feeling that it doesn't always match up with my gender identity, often lurks in some far corner of my mind. It doesn't matter how well I'm dressed, how much I brush my hair, how many compliments I receive, or how well my hormone therapy treatment is working. When gender dysphoria hits, it packs a punch.

—Serena Sonoma

also : a condition marked by such distress

The treatment for gender dysphoria is often multi-disciplinary, combining the efforts of several behavioral health and medical professionals. … Non-operative treatment focuses on implementing psychosocial therapy and/or medical management with hormone replacement therapy. Operative treatments range from small cosmetic procedures to much larger genital transformation surgeries.

—Danyon Anderson et al.

compare gender euphoria

Examples of gender dysphoria in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Reactions and Ongoing Legal Fight Hegseth’s policy—implemented at the direction of the administration’s January 2025 executive order—bars individuals with a diagnosis or history of gender dysphoria from military service, with limited waiver exceptions. —Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2025

The policy disqualifies people based on a diagnosis or history of gender dysphoria as defined by psychiatric professionals. —Jack Birle, The Washington Examiner, 30 Nov. 2025

Movies like Homicide and Sleepaway Camp in which cis people are coerced into living as a gender that does not correspond with their conception of themselves forces cis viewers to imagine the horrors of gender dysphoria. —Literary Hub, 31 Oct. 2025

First opened in 2021, Rady’s Gender-Affirming Care program, according to recent media accounts, has provided patients with gender dysphoria a range of services, including puberty-blocking medications, hormone treatments and referrals for surgical operations. —Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1973, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for gender dysphoria

• dioscorea
• infusoria
• sanatoria
• aporia
• centaurea
• euphoria
• septoria
• signoria
• trattoria
• chorea
• correa
• doria

Medical Definition

gender dysphoria

noun

: a distressed state arising from conflict between a person's gender identity and the sex the person was identified as having at birth

Nonbinary people may or may not use medical approaches to align their identities and physical bodies, and, like transgender people, some nonbinary people experience gender dysphoria while others do not.

—Elizabeth Kukura, Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics

also : a condition marked by such distress

Scientists have no conclusive explanation for what causes some people to feel dissonance between their gender identity and aspects of their anatomy. In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association updated its manual, replacing the term "gender identity disorder," with one that is less stigmatizing, "gender dysphoria."

—The New York Times

compare gender euphoria