shell-shocked

comparative more shell-shocked · superlative most shell-shocked · alternative shellshocked · alternative shell shocked

1. datedStunned or mentally unbalanced by prolonged stress such as experienced in combat or under fire (shell-fire); suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

   Glenn Kilbourne had returned from France early that fall, shell-shocked and gassed, and otherwise incapacitated for service in the army—a wreck of his former sterling self.

   1922, Zane Grey, chapter 1, in The Call of the Canyon

2. figurativelyConfused as a result of a traumatic experience.

   I lay there, momentarily shell-shocked as, hungover and jet-lagged, I tried to remember what I was doing today. Something important.

   2016, Rosie Blake, chapter 15, in How to Find Your (First) Husband, London: Corvus, →ISBN, page 129

   2 more examples

   With inflationary pressures easing and economic concerns mounting, shell-shocked investors are seeking the protection of government securities.

   2008 December 18, Luke Mullins, “The Top 5 Housing-Market Hopes for 2009”, in U.S.News & World Report, retrieved 22 Dec 2008

   A family from Knebworth has been left shell-shocked by the return of their beloved tortoise, more than eight months after she went missing.

   2022 July 13, “Stop & Examine”, in RAIL, number 961, page 71