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

Stack’s Lilly particularly stands out as a young girl still terrorized by the traumatic loss of her father, but desperate to save her friends from experiencing similar kinds of anguish. —Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 22 Oct. 2025

For Bolton, writing about the traumatic experience proved to be somewhat cathartic. —Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 17 Oct. 2025

Everything in our lives was traumatic. —Jeff Pearlman, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2025

Cancer is traumatic so finding community with others in the same situation can be a lifeline. —Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 16 Oct. 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- 

: of, relating to, resulting from, or causing a trauma

cases of traumatic rupture

—The Journal of the American Medical Association

a traumatic experience

traumatically

-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb