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

The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates medical devices, also sent warning letters to manufacturers of breast binders telling them not to market their devices to children with gender dysphoria. — Erin Mansfield, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2026

Medical certification of Oleh’s gender dysphoria cuts little ice with the military, who exercise institutional transphobia while taking him at his word regarding his identity. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 8 Aug. 2026

In 2025, Children’s treated 257 kids with puberty blockers and 549 with hormone therapy for gender dysphoria, which is distress caused by a mismatch between someone’s sense of gender and how the world sees them. — Meg Wingerter, Denver Post, 15 July 2026

In its last term, the high court upheld a Tennessee law that restricts access to certain medical treatments for minors experiencing gender dysphoria. — Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 30 June 2026

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