Word.ws English Dictionary

bruxism

Syllables: brux·i·sm/ˈbɹʌksɪz(ə)m/US/ˈbɹʌksɪzəm/

bruxism noun: the habit or practice of grinding the teeth, as while sleeping, or due to stress or certain drugs.

bruxism: the habit or practice of grinding the teeth, as while sleeping, or due to stress or certain drugs
Image: Pilar Molés Julio, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

bruxism (usually uncountable, plural bruxisms)

  1. (usually) The habit or practice of grinding the teeth, as while sleeping, or due to stress or certain drugs.
    • Bruxism is defined as occlusal stress during sleep.[1932, Bertrand S. Frohman, Jerome M. Schweitzer, “Occlusal Neuroses: The Application of Psychotherapy to Dental Problems”, in The Psychoanalytic Review, volume 19, number 3, New York, N.Y.: William...
    • Employment of autosuggestion in the treatment of "bruxism" may not be so well known.1940 November, Paul J. Boyens, “Value of Autosuggestion in the Therapy of ‘Bruxism’ and Other Biting Habits”, in The Journal of the American Dental Association, volume 27, number 11, Chicago, Ill....
    Synonyms:
    bruxation

bruxism meaning in Tamil, Arabic, Indonesian and Persian

bruxism in Tamil

பல் கடித்தல், பல் வெருவுதல்

bruxism in Arabic

habit or practice of grinding the teeth
صرير الأسنان

bruxism in Indonesian

habit or practice of grinding the teeth
bruksisme

bruxism in Persian

habit or practice of grinding the teeth
دندانقروچه

Examples of bruxism in a sentence

  • He cites a case of internal resorption where there was no history or evidence other than continued bruxism as the etiology.1972 January, William Myers, David Whitaker, “Endodontic Considerations in Occlusal Adjustment”, in Benjamin R. Baker, editor, The Journal...
  • Caffeine intake in high quantity is linked with an increased risk of sleep bruxisms in 1.5 times through mechanisms currently unknown.2015, Nicolás Patricio Skármeta, Paula Espinoza-Mellado, Pedro Chana, “Orofacial Dystonia and Other Oromandibular Movement Disorders”, in...

Synonyms of bruxism

Forms of bruxism

pluralbruxisms

Origin of bruxism

From Ancient Greek βρυχή (brukhḗ, “grinding of teeth”) + English -ism (suffix forming nouns indicating a tendency of action, behaviour, condition, or state). The word βρυχή is derived from Ancient Greek βρύκω (brúkō, “bite, chew; devour, gobble; grind one's teeth, gnash”). Note that the stem brux- is an irregular transliteration from Ancient Greek (the form brychism would be expected).

Words formed from bruxism

Questions about bruxism

What does bruxism mean?
Bruxism means the habit or practice of grinding the teeth, as while sleeping, or due to stress or certain drugs.
What is bruxism in Tamil?
Bruxism in Tamil is பல் கடித்தல், பல் வெருவுதல். See Bruxism meaning in Tamil.
How do you use bruxism in a sentence?
He cites a case of internal resorption where there was no history or evidence other than continued bruxism as the etiology.
What part of speech is bruxism?
Bruxism is a noun.
How do you pronounce bruxism?
Bruxism is pronounced /ˈbɹʌksɪz(ə)m/ (UK).
What is the plural of bruxism?
The plural of bruxism is bruxisms.

Words near bruxism in the dictionary

  1. Bruxellian
  2. bruxer
  3. bruxers
  4. bruxes
  5. bruxing
  6. bruxism
  7. bruxisms
  8. bruxist
  9. bruxistic
  10. bruxists
  11. bruxite

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bruxism (page history and authors); bruxism (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-bruxism.oga.

Cite this entry: “bruxism.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bruxism. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.