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
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Recent Examples of traumatic
Shots - Health News In post-Roe Texas, 2 mothers with traumatic pregnancies walk very different paths
Kash says this new law doesn't take into account threats to a mother's mental health — such as carrying a baby to term that won't survive.
—
Katia Riddle, NPR, 15 May 2025
The event led the air traffic controllers to take leave under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, which covers federal employees who are physically injured or experience traumatic events on the job, according to NATCA, a union that represents around 20,000 aviation professionals.
—Mirna Alsharif, NBC news, 11 May 2025
Some of these experiences may indeed be traumatic, but not every distressing experience can be counted as such.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 8 May 2025
Underneath any comedy is a traumatic story as well.
—Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 8 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for traumatic
Katia Riddle, NPR, 15 May 2025
The event led the air traffic controllers to take leave under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, which covers federal employees who are physically injured or experience traumatic events on the job, according to NATCA, a union that represents around 20,000 aviation professionals.
—Mirna Alsharif, NBC news, 11 May 2025
Some of these experiences may indeed be traumatic, but not every distressing experience can be counted as such.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 8 May 2025
Underneath any comedy is a traumatic story as well.
—Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 8 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for traumatic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for traumatic
Adjective
-
There’s no doubt that Lewis, abandoned as a baby by his parents, has done some horrible stuff.—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
26 May 2025
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Given the horrible economic incentives that government regulation has created, the surprise is not that some patients experience mistreatment.—
John C. Goodman,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2025
Adjective
-
Their boyfriends, meanwhile, suffer the painful indignities of paper cutters, buzzsaws, and other sharp objects.—
Randall Colburn,
EW.com,
23 May 2025
-
Ornstein: United were budgeting for no European football next season, Joseph, and therefore last night would have been extremely painful but not a complete shock.—
David Ornstein,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
Adjective
-
Djokovic knew he’d be seeded to play one of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev or Taylor Fritz in the quarters, and in the end landed Zverev, which isn’t a terrible outcome, but would leave him with a possible Sinner-Alcaraz double bill in the semifinals and final to lift the trophy.—
Charlie Eccleshare,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
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One night the fish was very overcooked and covered with a terrible sauce.—
Sheah Rarback,
Miami Herald,
22 May 2025
Adjective
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Crow-Armstrong, 23, is currently under club control through the 2030 season, meaning there isn’t an overwhelming sense of urgency.—
Patrick Mooney,
New York Times,
28 May 2025
-
The Valkyries, though, fought back to avoid an overwhelming rout.—
Fiifi Frimpong,
New York Daily News,
28 May 2025
Adjective
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For Armstrong, capturing the humanity of these men paints a more unsettling portrait than pure billionaire-trolling might.—
Charlie Warzel,
The Atlantic,
30 May 2025
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The main case under investigation is unsettling and satisfyingly intricate, with ample thematic connections to Morck, Akram and Rose’s respective forms of psychological damage.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
29 May 2025
Adjective
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The downsides are that DEET smells awful, is oily, and can damage anything with plastic in it, like synthetic clothing and camping gear.—
Kristin Canning,
Wired News,
21 May 2025
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But Eleanor has backed herself into an awful corner, and in some ways, so too has Johansson’s film, which is stuck trying to impart sage wisdom through the lens of a truly hideous (if well-meaning) lie.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
20 May 2025
Adjective
-
The fear of failure creeps in, the weight of expectations becomes unbearable and the workload that once felt manageable now seems impossible to do.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2025
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Tasks as simple as putting on shoes become unbearable.—
Health,
Health,
20 May 2025
Adjective
-
Nothing has officially happened yet, but the tension is disturbing with the consequences potentially devastating.—
Mac Engel,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
27 May 2025
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That’s a quite disturbing possibility since AGI could wield such an act on a scale of immense magnitude and with globally adverse consequences.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Traumatic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/traumatic. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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