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

Despite widespread anxiety about the procedure, the experience proves far less traumatic than commonly portrayed, offering hope for reluctant patients. —Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2026

There will be supporters under the age of 30 who have not seen Arsenal lift this trophy in their lifetime, but have witnessed traumatic final defeats by Chelsea in 2007, Birmingham City in 2011 and Manchester City in 2018. —Cerys Jones, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026

Anyone who lived through that traumatic unrest knows just how different this feels. —Eric Roper, Mercury News, 31 Jan. 2026

In general, Sloan remarks that children are exposed to so much more than their parents were at their age, but for Black children, a higher level of traumatic day-to-day realities exist in ways that are mentally harming. —Leslie D. Rose, Parents, 29 Jan. 2026

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