TRAUMATIC Synonyms: 57 Similar and Opposite Words

traumatic

adjective

Definition of traumatic

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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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of traumatic In season one, in the back of the limo with my sister [Kim Richards], the world saw a traumatic family dynamic. — Maer Roshan, HollywoodReporter, 4 Aug. 2026 He was also convicted of child endangerment due to the dangerous and traumatic implications of their son’s presence at the scene. — Eleanor Jacobs, PEOPLE, 3 Aug. 2026 Her sadness and traumatic experiences, such as the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing and the death of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller in 2018, have become intertwined with her career. — Allison Degrushe, StyleCaster, 31 July 2026 Standard autopsies can take two hours or longer in complicated cases or traumatic deaths, according to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. — N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 31 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for traumatic

Recent Examples of Synonyms for traumatic

Adjective

But the Chinese way will cause a proliferation of talent, usage, data—until something horrible happens.

— Evan Osnos, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
The Badgers have had horrible injury luck, which has led to bad QB play the past few years.

— Antonio Morales, New York Times, 27 July 2026

Definition of horrible

Adjective

But for Tran’s family, the arrest revisited a painful, complicated chapter of their lives.

— Faith Karimi, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026
Many have called for empathy and compassion for the situation, while others struggle to reconcile calls for grace with Hilton’s history of profiting from celebrities’ most painful moments.

— Krystie Lee Yandoli, USA Today, 8 Aug. 2026

Definition of painful

Adjective

Fielding a growing number of calls from Haitians unsure of where to turn is overwhelming, says Judith Polidor, who works as a paralegal in Brooklyn’s Little Haiti neighborhood.

— Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN Money, 9 Aug. 2026
Although the news was overwhelming, Kaverman decided to reframe the moment.

— Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 9 Aug. 2026

Definition of overwhelming

Adjective

Pork Soda, in particular, foreshadowed the weight of nu-metal acts like Korn, who also deployed sagging bass in service of profoundly unsettling narratives.

— Sasha Geffen, Pitchfork, 2 Aug. 2026
But let that terror develop for just a second and something more unsettling will emerge.

— Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 31 July 2026

Definition of unsettling

Adjective

So kudos to the extras who steal scenes from them in the background, flailing like avant-garde dancers when a vicious mental parasite leaps from grandmothers to joggers to security guards on a quest to find something awful.

— Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2026
The experts and the betting odds expect futility on the field, something close to awful.

— Greg Cote July 27, Miami Herald, 27 July 2026

Definition of awful

Adjective

Nicole says that as an adult, her brother faced unbearable tragedy when one of his children died.

— Edie Peffley, NBC news, 5 Aug. 2026
To this day, the putrid, offensive odor coming from the tens of millions of pounds of rotting food in the warehouse is unbearable for families.

— Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of unbearable

Browse Nearby Words

trashy

traumatic

traumatically

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“Traumatic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/traumatic. Accessed 10 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of traumatic

adjective

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