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

Treatment for gender dysphoria or gender identity disorder can affect an individual's ovaries or testes and thus fertility. —Kate Plummer, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 June 2025

The Tennessee law, like Idaho’s, centers on medical care for transgender youth that addresses gender dysphoria, or feelings of distress when a person’s body or presentation doesn’t match their gender identity. —Nicole Blanchard, Idaho Statesman, 19 June 2025

Roberts argued the law also doesn’t discriminate based on a person’s transgender status, because transgender people could still seek medical treatments like puberty blockers for other medical conditions besides gender dysphoria. —Alison Durkee, Forbes.com, 18 June 2025

Washington — The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Tennessee law that restricts access to gender-affirming care for minors experiencing gender dysphoria, a decision that is likely to have broad implications for access to medical treatments for transgender youth in half of the country. —June 18, CBS News, 18 June 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