gender dysphoria

noun

: a distressed state arising from conflict between a person's gender identity and the sex the person was identified as having at birth

I am a 24-year-old transgender woman, and I know gender dysphoria very well. My distress over my physical body, my feeling that it doesn't always match up with my gender identity, often lurks in some far corner of my mind. It doesn't matter how well I'm dressed, how much I brush my hair, how many compliments I receive, or how well my hormone therapy treatment is working. When gender dysphoria hits, it packs a punch.

—Serena Sonoma

also : a condition marked by such distress

The treatment for gender dysphoria is often multi-disciplinary, combining the efforts of several behavioral health and medical professionals. … Non-operative treatment focuses on implementing psychosocial therapy and/or medical management with hormone replacement therapy. Operative treatments range from small cosmetic procedures to much larger genital transformation surgeries.

—Danyon Anderson et al.

compare gender euphoria

Examples of gender dysphoria in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In another scene, gender dysphoria is depicted through Josephine wearing a campy, plastic sea monster mask, like something straight out of a ’50s B-movie. —James Factora, Them., 31 Mar. 2025

The complaint, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenges one of President Trump’s executive orders and a BOP directive to end treatments, including hormone therapy and surgery, for trans inmates diagnosed with gender dysphoria. —Brooke Migdon, The Hill, 7 Mar. 2025

In the case of one of the plaintiffs, identified in court papers as 14-year-old Gabe Goe, he and his parents were told that Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., would no longer issue new prescriptions or process refills for treatments to address his gender dysphoria. —Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 13 Feb. 2025

In response to the order, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a policy that presumptively disqualifies people with gender dysphoria from military service. —arkansasonline.com, 19 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1973, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for gender dysphoria

• dioscorea
• infusoria
• sanatoria
• aporia
• centaurea
• euphoria
• septoria
• signoria
• trattoria
• chorea
• correa
• doria

Medical Definition

gender dysphoria

noun

: a distressed state arising from conflict between a person's gender identity and the sex the person was identified as having at birth

Nonbinary people may or may not use medical approaches to align their identities and physical bodies, and, like transgender people, some nonbinary people experience gender dysphoria while others do not.

—Elizabeth Kukura, Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics

also : a condition marked by such distress

Scientists have no conclusive explanation for what causes some people to feel dissonance between their gender identity and aspects of their anatomy. In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association updated its manual, replacing the term "gender identity disorder," with one that is less stigmatizing, "gender dysphoria."

—The New York Times

compare gender euphoria