as in horrible
causing great and lasting pain or distress
The family struggled to cope with the traumatic experience of losing their home.
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Recent Examples of traumatic
Authorities have released the name of a man who died in an El Cajon area apartment complex last week after suffering traumatic injuries.
—
Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Sep. 2025
Kimberley Cantu, a superintendent for the Mansfield Independent School District in Texas, has experience getting her students through traumatic experiences, including a 2021 school shooting.
—Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill, 20 Sep. 2025
The Sabres captain detailed the traumatic experience in a letter shared by the team Friday.
—Paulina Dedaj, FOXNews.com, 20 Sep. 2025
These episodes, mostly from their youth and mostly traumatic, are the source of Sarah’s and David’s negative views of romance, and of themselves.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for traumatic
Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Sep. 2025
Kimberley Cantu, a superintendent for the Mansfield Independent School District in Texas, has experience getting her students through traumatic experiences, including a 2021 school shooting.
—Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill, 20 Sep. 2025
The Sabres captain detailed the traumatic experience in a letter shared by the team Friday.
—Paulina Dedaj, FOXNews.com, 20 Sep. 2025
These episodes, mostly from their youth and mostly traumatic, are the source of Sarah’s and David’s negative views of romance, and of themselves.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for traumatic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for traumatic
Adjective
-
Miami could choose to move on from the star receiver due to the horrible season-ending injury.—
James Brizuela,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Sep. 2025
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Many of the game’s best teams spent the regular season alternating between brilliant and horrible.—
Levi Weaver,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The result is the year’s most daring TV performance, rooted in a painful, just barely recognizable humanity.—
Daniel D'Addario,
Variety,
30 Sep. 2025
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The company said its offering, akin to online tax preparation software, could help students maximize financial aid while making the application process less painful.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Our prayers are with the victims and their families during this terrible tragedy.—
Hollie Silverman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Sep. 2025
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Rather, the wretched truth is a reminder that history’s wins are often, if not always, accompanied by terrible loss — that, sometimes, what was cast as victory may have actually been defeat.—
Andrea Williams,
Nashville Tennessean,
27 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Despite the overwhelming support for the new Gang Suppression Force, many questions remain, including the final costs, which countries will deploy troops, how soon the additional security forces will arrive and the role of the Kenyan troops.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
2 Oct. 2025
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But stars rely on overwhelming gravitational pressure to force their fusion.—
Jordan Blum,
Fortune,
2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The extent to which the entire AI boom is backstopped by Nvidia’s cash isn’t easy to answer precisely, which is also one of the unsettling things about it.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
28 Sep. 2025
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Some experiences were unsettling.—
Soph Warnes,
CNN Money,
28 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Once the selloff happened, the Twins were destined to be awful for the final two months, all but sealing Baldelli’s fate.—
Aaron Gleeman,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
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That’s the awful low; but Dunne’s story is ultimately one of redemption.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Looking back over those pages now is nearly unbearable.—
Ann Patchett,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
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The couple stepped back as senior royals in 2020, citing the unbearable intrusions of the British press and a lack of support from the palace.—
Stephanie Nolasco , Ashley Papa,
FOXNews.com,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Pros Leaf raking is quiet, so there are no time constraints; Collecting leaves manually not only avoids disturbing neighbors or wildlife, is also does not cause air pollution.—
Luke Miller,
Better Homes & Gardens,
28 Sep. 2025
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The attack adds to a disturbing pattern of violence targeting religious communities across the United States, including the recent mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis that killed two children and injured 17 others.—
Adeola Adeosun,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Traumatic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/traumatic. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.
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