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 the book, Ursula simply announces that Frank was found dead in a closet, which is a far less traumatic moment for Bela. — William Earl, Variety, 9 Oct. 2026 Several factors raise the risk, according to Cleveland Clinic, including a history of negative or traumatic experiences with needles and a family history of needle phobia. — Samantha Agate, Charlotte Observer, 8 Oct. 2026 Risk factors include traumatic needle experiences, a family history of needle fear and anxiety disorders such as OCD or generalized anxiety disorder. — Samantha Agate, Kansas City Star, 8 Oct. 2026 Cohen is sitting in a hotel restaurant at the Toronto Film Festival in mid-September, having just premiered the Israeli movie Our Loves, one of the first film dramas about the traumatic day. — Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 7 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for traumatic

Recent Examples of Synonyms for traumatic

Adjective

Despite the identically horrible records, these teams are in different places.

— Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 9 Oct. 2026
In all, the Dodgers drowned out that horrible tomahawk chop with some mighty hacks of their own, winning 3-1 while finally displaying some of the desperation that had been missing.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of horrible

Adjective

His path crosses with Naoko, a Japanese tourist carrying the weight of a painful past, and Ruby, a young child searching for his parents.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
Rising financial strains on American workers are forcing them to make painful trade-offs, such as skipping medical care, to make ends meet, new research shows.

— Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of painful

Adjective

And then none of it mattered because his special teams bailed him out with a big kick return (thanks to a terrible decision by Eagles coach Nick Sirianni to even allow a kick return in the first place) followed by a walk-off field goal.

— Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026
The story follows the transformation of Adriana (Colin), a woman shattered by a terrible murder and who discovers the strength to start over, driven by an unquenchable thirst for justice.

— Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of terrible

Adjective

The overwhelming majority of men and women will never hurt anyone.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
With homes nearly toppling into the ocean and back-to-back floods and hurricanes amplifying our sense of dread, keeping track of all things El Niño can be overwhelming.

— Rosanna Xia, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of overwhelming

Adjective

The mystery comedy, loosely inspired by the 1989 film starring Tom Hanks, follows a married couple whose move into the husband's childhood home exposes unsettling secrets in their seemingly quiet suburban neighborhood.

— Danielle Minnetian, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2026
Liminal Yellow can read as warm or slightly unsettling, WGSN says, depending on how it is styled.

— Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of unsettling

Adjective

Jake Bauers has been awful for most of his career, but graduated in 2018 as a top-50 prospect.

— Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 18 Oct. 2026
Trailing 12-0 after its awful start, BC scored the next 14 points, jumping in front on McKenzie’s 11-yard score to Javarius Green.

— ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of awful

Adjective

Having now seen both movies, there’s no question that Whalefall put him through the more unbearable crucible.

— Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2026
From Fall 2019, Vaccarello’s collections began not only to recall Saint Laurent’s gestures, but to expand upon and modernize them — testing the extremes of the founder’s silhouettes and codes to generate almost unbearable visual tension.

— Luke Leitch, Vogue, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of unbearable

Adjective

Even when the metaphor is painfully on the nose, the film’s most disturbing images are more than their dramatic limitations and a whale is still an astonishing place to spend a movie.

— Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 14 Oct. 2026
When her aunt Helena and paralyzed grandmother Regina arrive, the fragile boundaries between everyday life, ancestral superstition and Trina’s increasingly disturbing nightmares begin to collapse.

— Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of disturbing

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trashy

traumatic

traumatically

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“Traumatic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/traumatic. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of traumatic

adjective

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