# acataphasia

CEFR C2 · Noun

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/acataphasia
Updated: 2026-06-22

## Definition

a condition where a person cannot understand or use words. It is a rare type of language disorder that affects how the brain processes speech.

For teachers: a rare neurological disorder characterized by the inability to comprehend or produce speech. Often used in medical contexts to describe a specific type of aphasia.

## Examples

- The doctor diagnosed him with acataphasia after the stroke.
- Following the brain injury, the patient exhibited symptoms of acataphasia, struggling to follow simple verbal instructions or engage in conversation.
- While more common forms of aphasia involve the loss of specific vocabulary, acataphasia represents a more profound disruption of the neural pathways responsible for language processing and comprehension.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.