What does "vaginismus" mean?

A painful muscular contraction of the vagina when attempting to insert something, such as a tampon or a penis, into it.

What is a synonym for "vaginismus"?

Common synonyms include: colpospasm, colpospasm, vaginism, vaginism.

Pronounced //væd͡ʒɪˈnɪzməs//.

//væd͡ʒɪˈnɪzməs// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A painful muscular contraction of the vagina when attempting to insert something, such as a tampon or a penis, into it. uncountable, usually
2
muscular contraction that causes the vagina to close; usually an anxiety reaction before coitus or pelvic examination wordnet

"Vaginismus is a double-edged sword."

From vagina + -ismus.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.