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
The heroine of his sixth film is Gaia, a young archaeology student, whose relationship with herself, and with those around her, is forever marked by a traumatic event.
—
Leo Barraclough, Variety, 3 June 2025
Adam Devine did a little show and tell recently with his scars from a traumatic childhood experience where he was hit by a cement truck.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 3 June 2025
In 2020, Susan Choi published a short story about Louisa, a ten-year-old girl who clashes with her ailing mother following a traumatic series of events in Japan when the child almost drowned and her beloved father disappeared.
—Stuart Miller, Oc Register, 2 June 2025
Nonetheless, Michaela’s fabulous life, practically ripped from the pages of Architectural Digest seems ideal to Simone (Milly Alcock), Michaela’s devoted assistant, who's desperate to escape her traumatic upbringing and a father who neglected her after her mother’s death by suicide.
—Erin Jensen, USA Today, 24 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for traumatic
Leo Barraclough, Variety, 3 June 2025
Adam Devine did a little show and tell recently with his scars from a traumatic childhood experience where he was hit by a cement truck.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 3 June 2025
In 2020, Susan Choi published a short story about Louisa, a ten-year-old girl who clashes with her ailing mother following a traumatic series of events in Japan when the child almost drowned and her beloved father disappeared.
—Stuart Miller, Oc Register, 2 June 2025
Nonetheless, Michaela’s fabulous life, practically ripped from the pages of Architectural Digest seems ideal to Simone (Milly Alcock), Michaela’s devoted assistant, who's desperate to escape her traumatic upbringing and a father who neglected her after her mother’s death by suicide.
—Erin Jensen, USA Today, 24 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for traumatic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for traumatic
Adjective
-
Even with the horrible start the Red Sox still nearly came all the way back, twice drawing to within one run, but the club couldn’t get over the hump.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
3 June 2025
-
We were made aware of this horrible activity by Priscilla Olivarez from ILRC, at our annual conference Convening 2025, held in San Antonio.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 June 2025
Adjective
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While battling through an injury, McDavid was held without a point in each of the last two games, including that painful 2-1 loss in Game 7.—
Daniel Nugent-Bowman,
New York Times,
16 June 2025
-
In particular, three symptoms—vaginal dryness, painful intercourse, and increased urinary tract infections, hot flashes, and sleep quality—often emerge as particularly severe for breast cancer patients.—
Chloe Castleberry,
Flow Space,
16 June 2025
Adjective
-
And these are the same Oilers who, after a terrible 6-1 loss in Game 3 to the Panthers, overcame a three-goal deficit in Game 4 to even the series.—
Daniel Nugent-Bowman,
New York Times,
15 June 2025
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For example, while the IRA rollback effort will inevitably mean a significant reduction in U.S. federal support for electric vehicles, nevertheless the adoption of EVs continued in Q1 even despite a terrible quarter for the U.S.’s leading brand (Tesla).—
Rob Day,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2025
Adjective
-
This kind of simple experimentation builds your skills quickly without being overwhelming.—
Dr. Diane Hamilton,
Forbes.com,
8 June 2025
-
And so to be here, 74,000 back-to-back nights, to break a record here for Banana Ball, and to see this response from this community, was overwhelming.—
Mike Kaye,
Charlotte Observer,
8 June 2025
Adjective
-
Human Parallels: Our Bias Toward Confident Eloquence Perhaps most unsettling is how closely this AI limitation mirrors a persistent human cognitive bias.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes.com,
10 June 2025
-
Graham says the casting team had considered looking for an older boy, given the demands of the role and the show’s unsettling subject matter.—
Glenn Whipp,
Los Angeles Times,
10 June 2025
Adjective
-
Even so, some of Lucy’s pronouncements are so truly awful that a blunt snort of laughter is the only response.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
13 June 2025
-
Romano moved back into the closer role since the loss of Alvarado, and has alternated awesome and awful performances - his ERA is an unsightly 7.40 to date.—
Tony Blengino,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2025
Adjective
-
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, 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,
14 June 2025
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Once the summer months arrive in the South, so does the unbearable humidity.—
Ashlyn Needham,
Southern Living,
13 June 2025
Adjective
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The withdrawn teen obsessively draws dark spiders in class and shows a disturbing fixation on news reports of school shootings.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
6 June 2025
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His disturbing legacy drew the attention of filmmaker and former HBO executive Kary Antholis, who had followed the case for decades.—
JP Mangalindan,
Time,
4 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Traumatic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/traumatic. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
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