shell-shocked

adjective

ˈshel-ˌshäkt 

1

: affected with shell shock or combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder

She sometimes had psychoneurotic cases on board, shell-shocked men whose behavior could not be predicted.

—Doris Weatherford

Sassoon was familiar with such rough-and-ready treatment, part of which encouraged shell-shocked soldiers to repress their memories of the trenches, shake themselves out of their depression, and carry on manfully.

—Roger J. Spiller

2

: mentally confused, upset, or exhausted as a result of a highly stressful or disturbing and often unexpected event or experience

She was shell-shocked, reeling from her loss in Iowa and polls that showed her cratering in New Hampshire.

—Joe Klein

… shell-shocked consumers were pledging their allegiance to the "New Frugality." Chastened by the brutal lessons of the worst economic downturn in decades, Americans swore off conspicuous consumption and resolved to embrace the thrifty ways of their grandparents …

—Stefan Theil

Synonyms

• stressed

Examples of shell-shocked in a Sentence

even after the long furlough, the returning soldiers still felt a little shell-shocked

shell-shocked survivors who were in dire need of every kind of help

Recent Examples on the Web

These are the same Oilers who gave the Vegas Golden Knights life with a last-second own-goal in Game 3 of the second round, a result that could have shell-shocked them. —Daniel Nugent-Bowman, New York Times, 15 June 2025

Andersen, who had been so good in the series, looked shell-shocked in net and never recovered. —Scott Powers, New York Times, 29 May 2025

The Charlotte defenders looked shell-shocked, and the collapse accelerated from there. —Colin Cerniglia, Charlotte Observer, 18 May 2025

Boston, even with its title pedigree, looked shell-shocked, out of its league in a way few thought possible given the drastic swings in the series. —Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 17 May 2025

Alexander-Arnold looked shell-shocked and so did many of his team-mates. —James Pearce, New York Times, 12 May 2025

Area Republicans look shell-shocked: President Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement sent a shockwave through the global economy, put the stock market into a tailspin and fueled fears that the U.S. is headed toward a recession. —Cate Martel, The Hill, 4 Apr. 2025

Soaring egg prices have left U.S. consumers scrambling and shell-shocked. —Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 31 Mar. 2025

The Seahawks’ lead grew to 10 and the Delaware contingent – arms crossed, eyes staring blankly at the court – looked shell-shocked. —Kyle Feldscher, CNN, 12 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1915, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for shell-shocked

• overstocked
• balked
• blocked
• chalked
• clocked
• cocked
• docked
• flocked
• hawked
• knocked
• locked
• mocked

Kids Definition

shell-shocked

adjective

ˈshel-ˌshäkt

1

: affected with shell shock

2

: mentally confused, upset, or exhausted as the result of being under too much stress

Medical Definition

shell-shocked

adjective

ˈshel-ˌshäkt 

: affected with combat fatigue