spasmodic
UK/spæzˈmɒd.ɪk/US/spæzˈmɑ.dɪk/
spasmodic adjective: of or relating to a spasm; resembling a sudden contraction of the muscles.
Adjective
spasmodic (comparative more spasmodic, superlative most spasmodic)
- Of or relating to a spasm; resembling a sudden contraction of the muscles.
- Convulsive; consisting of spasms.
- spasmodic asthma
- […] Dr. Francis Fuller, […] upon wearing a Quick-ſilver Girdle, for the Cure of the Itch, (and that after an inconſiderate and raſh manner) was brought under a violent Spaſmodick Diſtemper, which was ſupposed by himſelf and others to be owing to ſome Mercurial Particles lodg'd in ſome excretory...1734, T[homas] K[night], A Critical Dissertation upon the Manner of the Preparation of Mercurial Medicines, and Their Operation on Human Bodies; particularly Those Most in Fashion: […], London...
- Intermittent or fitful; occurring in abrupt bursts.
- spasmodic zeal or industry
- The chin was heavy, the nostrils were low and wide, and the lower lip hung loosely except in his moments of spasmodic earnestness, when it shut like a steel trap.1900 April, Willa Cather, “Eric Hermannson's Soul”, in Cosmopolitan
- Synonyms:
- patchy, stop-start, broken, fitful, ragged, catchy, discontinuous, intermissive, intermittent
- Erratic or unsustained.
- Of or relating to the spasmodic poets, a group of British Victorian poets who wrote introspective drama in verse.
Noun
spasmodic (plural spasmodics)
- A medicine for suppressing spasms.
- Synonyms:
- antispasmodic
spasmodic meaning in Malayalam and Kannada
spasmodic in Malayalam
- സമയങ്ങളിൽ സംഭവിക്കുന്ന, സന്നിയുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ട, ഞരമ്പുവലി, ഞരമ്പുവലി സംബന്ധിച്ച
spasmodic in Kannada
- ಸೇದುವ, ಸೆಳೆಯುವ, ಸೆಳೆತದಂತಹ, ಒಮ್ಮೆಗೇ ಬರುವ
Examples of spasmodic in a sentence
- Hypochondria — cites spasmodic blinking and severe memory loss as evidence of tardive dyskinesia and tardive dimentia.
- They cannot be dreamy Daniels, they cannot be spasmodic — gallop one half-hour, and slacken the next.
- And now the lion lunged suddenly to earth and with a few spasmodic quiverings lay still.
Synonyms of spasmodic
Forms of spasmodic
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more spasmodic |
| superlative | most spasmodic |
| Noun | |
| plural | spasmodics |
Origin of spasmodic
From New Latin spasmōdicus, from Ancient Greek σπασμώδης (spasmṓdēs, “spasmodic”), from σπασμός (spasmós, “spasm”).
Words formed from spasmodic
Questions about spasmodic
- What does spasmodic mean?
- Spasmodic means of or relating to a spasm; resembling a sudden contraction of the muscles.
- What is spasmodic in Malayalam?
- Spasmodic in Malayalam is സമയങ്ങളിൽ സംഭവിക്കുന്ന, സന്നിയുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ട, ഞരമ്പുവലി. See Spasmodic meaning in Malayalam.
- What part of speech is spasmodic?
- Spasmodic can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce spasmodic?
- Spasmodic is pronounced /spæzˈmɒd.ɪk/ (UK).
Words near spasmodic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: spasmodic (page history and authors); spasmodic (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); spasmodic (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-spasmodic.ogg.
Cite this entry: “spasmodic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spasmodic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.