contusion

/kənˈtuʒən/

/kənˈtuʒɪn/

Other forms: contusions

Contusion is really just a fancy word for a bad bruise. Professional athletes are often benched suffering from contusions. After all, if they're being paid millions, it sounds kinda wimpy to pull them because they're suffering from a...bruise.

A contusion is any damage to the body that doesn't break the skin but ruptures the blood capillaries beneath, resulting in a handsome-looking discoloration. For once, it's a medical term not used widely to describe a broader emotional or psychological state. You could talk about an "emotional contusion," but please, better not to. There are better terms around (see heartbroken, wounded, forlorn, etc.). Your audience will thank you.

Definitions of contusion

1. noun

   an injury that doesn't break the skin but results in some discoloration
   synonyms: bruise

   types:

   ecchymosis

   the purple or black-and-blue area resulting from a bruise

   petechia

   a minute red or purple spot on the surface of the skin as the result of tiny hemorrhages of blood vessels in the skin (as in typhoid fever)

   black eye, mouse, shiner

   a swollen bruise caused by a blow to the eye

   type of:

   harm, hurt, injury, trauma

   any physical damage to the body caused by violence or accident or fracture etc.
2. noun

   the action of bruising
   “the bruise resulted from a contusion”

   type of:

   hit, hitting, striking

   the act of contacting one thing with another