shell shock
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
shell shock
Where it comes from
Well attested during World War I. Attempts to find attestations that predate that war seem fruitless. The ambiguity of reference to a range of phenomena, from physical concussion due to the explosively loud noise of artillery fire (on both the sending and receiving ends) to psychological reactions to violence and maiming, was present in the term's use from the start. In 21st-century wars there is continued evidence that long, close exposure to the noise of artillery can cause traumatic brain injury even in soldiers who did not take incoming artillery fire. But most discussions of shell shock in World War I concerned combat stress as well.
noun shell shocks · shellshock · shell-shock
-
A psychiatric condition characterized by fatigue caused by battle, corresponding largely with the current diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.
There's a condition in combat—most people know it by now. It occurs when a soldier's nervous system has reached the breaking point. In World War I, it was called shell shock. Simple, honest, direct language. Two syllables. Shell shock. Almost sounds like the guns themselves. Shell shock!!
Similar: battle fatigue, combat fatigue
- A person with the condition. I passed through the shell-shock wards and a yard where the "shell-shocks" sat about, dumb, or making queer, foolish noises, or staring with a look of animal fear in their eyes.
- A stunning shock. "[…]Think of me / With all these psychic shell shocks — first the war, / Its great emotions, then this Elenor."
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see shell, shock. The other was to go on, to the next drink or the bed or the grass outside, where the party-noises ebbed and flowed like shell-shocks and the Southern Cross burnt crookedly above.
verb shell shocks · shell shocking · shell shocked · shellshock · shell-shock
- To stun or debilitate as by a shock. It was General du Pont's 'forty-five' which bellowed and thundered and echoed through Fifth avenue, scaring horses and shell shocking pedestrians.
Translations
Every language
noun psychiatric condition characterized by fatigue caused by battle
| Español | neurosis de guerra, neurosis guerrera, neurosis bélica |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 戦闘ストレス反応 sentōsutoresuhannō |
| 中文 | 砲彈休克 /炮弹休克 pàodàn xiūkè |
| Português | fadiga de combate |
| Français | obusite |
| Deutsch | Kriegszitterer |
| Русский | конту́зия kontúzija |
| العربية | إِرْتِجَاج دِمَاغِيّ ʔirtijāj dimāḡiyy |
Talk about this word "shell shock." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/shell%20shock. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. shell shock. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/shell%20shock "shell shock." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/shell%20shock.Cite this
@misc{shell_shock_2026,
title = {shell shock},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/shell%20shock},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
