traumatic

adjective

trau·​mat·​ic trə-ˈma-tik 

trȯ-, 

trau̇-

1

: psychologically or emotionally stressful in a way that can lead to serious mental and emotional problems

The report … revealed that the onset of bulimic behavior tends to be associated with voluntary dieting and with traumatic events such as the loss of a loved one.

—Ralph Heussner

He's been open and frank about his traumatic childhood scarred by violence and domestic abuse.

—Stephen Milton

broadly : causing distress or anxiety

The traumatic experience of the Wall Street crash and the long depression of the 1930s has gradually faded from memory …

—Jack Revell

The arrival of mass tourism in a previously unspoilt area … was certainly traumatic.

—Graham Robb

2

medical : relating to, being, or caused by a sudden, severe, often life-threatening injury to the body

… the lone medical centers in the Triad to treat victims of traumatic injuries such as life-threatening car wrecks or shootings.

—Pat Kimbrough

Three years ago, she was in a traumatic car crash that shattered her pelvis, and caused numerous other injuries.

—Brad Gillman

There have been reports of shrapnel causing a traumatic fistula between the right coronary artery and the right atrium.

—Matthias Eikermann et al.

also : involving or causing tissue damage or physical stress

The artery-dilating procedure, which uses a balloon or other device guided to the restricted artery by a cardiac catheter, is less invasive and traumatic than coronary artery bypass surgery.

—Andrew Skolnick

Open-heart surgery has become all but routine in recent years, although still physically traumatic.

—Ralph T. King, Jr.

see also chronic traumatic encephalopathy, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury

traumatically

trə-ˈma-ti-k(ə-)lē 

trȯ-, 

trau̇-

adverb

Examples of traumatic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

However, the practice can also be traumatic. —Cory Turner, NPR, 3 Dec. 2025

The drama follows Lina, an accomplished Argentine artist and designer (played by Isabel Aimé González Sola), who has a traumatic experience, a near-drowning, while accepting an award for her fashion career in Switzerland. —Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 1 Dec. 2025

At her civil trial against Porter, her lawyers said the traumatic frame-up destroyed her career. —Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 29 Nov. 2025

The traumatic episode locks the characters into small, dark rooms for an extended period of time, creating a sense of relentless claustrophobia. —David Sims, The Atlantic, 27 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1650, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing traumatic

• chronic traumatic encephalopathy
• post-traumatic
• post-traumatic stress disorder
• traumatic brain injury

Rhymes for traumatic

• asthmatic
• chromatic
• climatic
• dogmatic
• dramatic
• ecstatic
• emphatic
• erratic
• eustatic
• fanatic
• hepatic
• lymphatic

Medical Definition

traumatic

adjective

trau·​mat·​ic trə-ˈmat-ik, trȯ-, trau̇- 

1

: psychologically or emotionally stressful in a way that can lead to serious mental and emotional problems

Sleeplessness may be brought on by traumatic events such as a death in the family, an illness such as cancer or anything else distressing, causing a person to lie awake at night with a racing mind.

—Laura Sanders, Science News

2

: relating to, being, or caused by a sudden, severe, often life-threatening injury to the body

Aortic dissection—a sudden tear in the wall of the body's main artery—can easily be mistaken for a heart attack. … And it may result from a traumatic chest injury—for example, being thrown against the steering wheel during an automobile accident.

—Stephen A. Goldfinger, Harvard Health Letter

also : involving or causing tissue damage or physical stress

Although the bypass operation usually reestablishes blood flow to the heart, it is a traumatic procedure, which involves a lengthy recovery period and great expense.

—Abraham Katzir, Scientific American

see also chronic traumatic encephalopathy, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury

traumatically

-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb