Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use trauma in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun

Trauma means any injury to the body of a living thing. Example: “We're not talking about paper cuts or sprains here — we're talking about trauma.”

Examples of trauma by meaning

nounSerious injury, resulting from predation, violence, an accident such as a fall, a vehicle crash, etc.

  • We're not talking about paper cuts or sprains here — we're talking about trauma.
  • Repeated trauma or shaking to the brain can be even worse, leading to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.2020 January 26, Leah Asmelash, “Why traumatic brain injuries can be dangerous”, in CNN

nounAn emotional wound leading to psychological injury.

  • What these patients eventually realized was that they all had trauma that had fed into their addictions.
  • Jailing her on Wednesday, magistrate Liz Clyne told Robins: "You have shown little remorse either for the death of the kitten or the trauma to your former friend Sarah Knutton." She was also banned from keeping animals for 10 years.2011 December 14, Steven Morris, “Devon woman jailed for 168 days for killing kitten in microwave”, in The Guardian
  • And although it doesn’t mean acting like an infant again, it does require recognizing that many of the thoughts and behaviors you’d like to change come from lingering feelings of childhood traumas or your inner child, said Dr.2025 April 28, Madeline Holcombe, “It might be time to ‘reparent’ yourself. Here’s how to get started”, in CNN

nounAn event that causes great distress.

  • The earthquake here 14 years ago was a national trauma that still affects the economy today.

More sentences with trauma

  • Such anecdotes give one a taste of life on a trauma ward.From the entry taste
  • People often turn to ungodly ideas as an emotional response to trauma.From the entry ungodly
  • His mental block is due to a childhood trauma which he will not confront.From the entry mental block
  • Don't get all shrinky on me. My distaste for cigars has nothing to do with childhood trauma.From the entry shrinky
  • Causes of polymegethism include contact lens wear, ocular surgery, trauma, and damage.From the entry polymegethism
  • My office is a safe place to talk about prior trauma.From the entry safe place
  • Only the oblivion of sleep can heal the greatest traumas.From the entry oblivion
  • The trauma had permanently warped her mind.From the entry warp
  • The surface was ulcerated by trauma.From the entry ulcerate
  • Survivors of the crash suffered injuries ranging from broken bones to lacerations, permanent disfigurements, and psychiatric trauma.2023 October 18, “Network News: Carmont: NR pays nearly £1m in out-of-court settlements”, in RAIL, number 994, page 15. From the entry disfigurement
  • He was meant to be making Adam feel better, not trauma dumping his own sorry past.2022, Jennifer Knightly, Paradise Lost & Found, unnumbered page. From the entry trauma dump
  • And he said that the main candidate for the trauma was heading the footballs.2020 February 24, Jack Guy, “UK football authorities ban children from heading footballs in training”, in CNN. From the entry football
  • From adolescent traumas to adulthood indignities, their anomie has been overdetermined.2020 March, Jess Bergman, “I’m Not Feeling Good at All”, in The Baffler, number 50. From the entry anomie
  • A residual haunting may not be caused by trauma or violence, though.2019, Zak Bagans, Ghost-Hunting For Dummies, page 142. From the entry residual haunting
  • Her system started when she was 17 years old: “We were not created by trauma.2017, Gergő Ribáry, László Lajtai, Zsolt Demetrovics, Aniko Maraz, “Multiplicity: An Explorative Interview Study on Personal Experiences…. From the entry singlet
  • The problem is trauma to the nail, usually the great toenail.2017 October 15, Brian Moloney, “Called to Care: What are infected, ingrown toenails?”, in South Bend Tribune, 145th year, number 220…. From the entry great toenail
  • Even in death, trans women of color cannot escape the trauma of colonialism and genocide.2013, "Witchymorgan", "On the Labor Movement and Transmisogyny", Black & Pink, May 2013, page 4. From the entry cishet
  • Unfortunately, blind placement too frequently results in trauma and is a source of significant morbidity and mortality.2011, Halloran O, Grecu B, Sinha A, “Methods and complications of nasoenteral intubation”, in Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition…. From the entry nasoenteral
  • Periosteal changes occur in trauma, psoriatic arthritis (above ankle), HPOA, and pachydermal periostitis.2011, Alan Hakim, Gavin Clunie, Inam Haq, Oxford Handbook of Rheumatology. From the entry pachydermal
  • In trauma work, pendulation describes the process of repeatedly going in and coming out of traumatic material.2009, Svagito Liebermeister, The Zen Way of Counseling, page 127. From the entry pendulation
  • Trauma to the newborn may be minimized by en caul delivery.2007, Ashley S. Roman, Martin L. Pernoll, “Late Pregnancy Complications”, in Alan H. DeCherney, Lauren Nathan, T. Murphy Goodwin, Neri…. From the entry en caul
  • They have all misheard and misimitated song lyrics without great trauma.2003, Brock Dethier, From Dylan to Donne: Bridging English and Music, page 49. From the entry misimitate
  • A New Age version of psychoanalysis, past-life therapy involves uncovering traumas from one's previous lives.2000, James Fieser, Moral Philosophy Through the Ages. From the entry past-life
  • Ynes Mexia's childhood and early adult life were fraught with trauma.2000, Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie, Joy Dorothy Harvey, The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: L-Z, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 890. From the entry Mexia
  • A facile, pop-psych explanation would unearth the roots of clownophobia in childhood traumas.1997, Ashley Crawford, Ray Edgar, editors, Transit Lounge: An Interface Book from 21.C, North Ryde, →ISBN, page 174. From the entry clownophobia
  • Parosmia has been reported by a number of patients with head trauma.1996, “Smell Disorders”, in M. Eric Gershwin, Gary A. Incaudo, editors, Diseases of the Sinuses: A Comprehensive Textbook of Diagnosis and…. From the entry parosmia
  • As the trauma diminishes in the weeks ahead, another meaning will emerge from the doomsday events.1986 February 8, “Editorial: The flight that failed”, in The Nation, page 1. From the entry doomsday event
  • As mentioned, areas of trauma can be seeded bacteremically by H. influenzae.1981, Ralph D. Feigin, Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, volume 1, page 866. From the entry bacteremically
  • As exciting causes, psychic traumata, exposure to cold, the puerperium, excesses, have been brought forward.1921, Robert Bing, Charles Lewis Allen, A Textbook of nervous diseases for students and practicing physicians: In Thirty Lectures, page 84. From the entry traumata
  • That’s why trauma is normalized, monetized, and immortalized in entertainment.2025, “Loosh Isn’t a Theory—It’s the Operating System”, in Reddit. From the entry loosh
  • The opposite of elective is emergent or trauma situation, such as a car crash, where it's not a scheduled procedure."2024 January 9, Dan Lamothe, Matt Viser, Fenit Nirappil, Missy Ryan, “Austin treated for prostate cancer before emergency, Pentagon…. From the entry elective
  • Venting to loved ones is fine, because it involves smaller, everyday problems; trauma dumping isn't because it involves bigger, deep-rooted problems.2022 July, Mahevash Shaikh, “How to get emotional consent to vent”, in Happiful, number 64, page 39. From the entry trauma dumping
  • The interview process was pretty straightforward, consisting of standard scenario questions followed by an average amount of trauma dumping.2021 October 6, Clara Gerlach, “Fordham Spearheads New Couch Psychology Practice”, in The Observer, Fordham University, page 12. From the entry trauma dumping
  • This is sadly common; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth experience trauma at higher rates than their cisheterosexual peers.2020, Charlie McNabb, Queer Adolescence: Understanding the Lives of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual…. From the entry cisheterosexual

Meaning of trauma

  1. noun Any injury to the body of a living thing.
  2. noun Serious injury, resulting from predation, violence, an accident such as a fall, a vehicle crash, etc.
  3. noun An emotional wound leading to psychological injury.

Full definition of trauma

Questions about trauma in a sentence

How do you use trauma in a sentence?
Trauma is used as a noun. For example: “We're not talking about paper cuts or sprains here — we're talking about trauma.”
What is a short sentence with trauma?
“The surface was ulcerated by trauma.”
What does trauma mean?
Trauma means any injury to the body of a living thing.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: trauma (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use trauma in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/trauma. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.