Word.ws English Dictionary

tonic

Syllables: ton·ic/ˈtɒnɪk/US/ˈtɑ.nɪk/

tonic adjective: pertaining to tension, especially of the muscles.

Adjective (1)

tonic (comparative more tonic, superlative most tonic)

  1. Pertaining to tension, especially of the muscles.
    • Out in front and across the street, Doc noted half a dozen or so young men, not loitering or doing substances but poised and tonic, as if waiting for some standing order to take effect.2009, Thomas Pynchon, Inherent Vice, Vintage, published 2010, page 316
  2. Restorative; curative; or invigorating.
    • The arrival of the new members had a tonic effect on the team.
  3. In a state of continuous unremitting action.
    • Peter Redgrave (2007) Basal ganglia. Scholarpedia, 2(6):1825.
      GABAergic neurones in the basal ganglia output nuclei have high tonic firing rates (40-80 Hz).

Noun (1)

tonic (usually uncountable, plural tonics)

  1. (usually) A substance with medicinal properties intended to restore or invigorate.
    • We used to brew a tonic from a particular kind of root.
  2. (usually) Tonic water.
  3. (Boston, US, dated, usually) Any of various carbonated, non-alcoholic beverages; soda pop.
  4. (figuratively, usually) Someone or something that revitalises or reinvigorates.
    • Charlie ain't no Nazi / She likes to wear her leather boots / 'Cause it's exciting for the veterans / And it's a tonic for the troops.1978, “She's So Modern”, performed by The Boomtown Rats
    • 'You're a tonic, Dee,' she said. 'And a real friend. Thanks.'2011, Cathy Kelly, She's the One

Verb

tonic (third-person singular simple present tonics, present participle tonicking, simple past and past participle tonicked)

  1. (archaic) To restore or invigorate.
    • When all signs of effusion, dulness, pain, œgophony, and cough had disappeared he was dieted, stimulated, and tonicked.1887, Medical Press and Circular, volume 94, page 461
    • The Persians, as a nation, were first to discover that fish were edible. The time is fixed at about 3000 B.C. This was their secret for some centuries—until the Assyrians learned about the elegance of fish for tonicking the brain.1939, Frank Grant Menke, Encyclopedia of Sports, page 17

Adjective (2)

tonic (not comparable)

  1. Pertaining to or based upon the first note of a diatonic scale.
  2. Pertaining to the accent or stress in a word or in speech.
  3. Of or relating to tones or sounds; specifically (phonetics, dated) being or relating to a speech sound made with tone unmixed and undimmed by obstruction, i.e. a vowel or diphthong.

Noun (2)

tonic (plural tonics)

  1. The first note of a diatonic scale; the keynote.
  2. The triad built on the tonic note.
  3. A tonic element or letter; a vowel or a diphthong.

tonic meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Bengali

tonic in Hindi

टॉनिक, टोनिक

tonic in Tamil

சத்து மருந்து

tonic in Marathi

टॉनिक, टाॅनिक

tonic in Bengali

শক্তিবর্ধক ওষুধ, বিদেশি
More languagesFewer languages
tonic in Telugu
టానిక్
tonic in Malayalam
ബലവർദ്ധകം, ഉത്തേജകം, ദീപനം, ഉത്തേജകമരുന്ന്
tonic in Kannada
ಅಳವುಕೊಡಿಸುವ, ಬಲಿಯಿಸುವ, ಬಲವರ್ಧಕ, ಆರೋಗ್ಯವರ್ಧಕ
tonic in Punjabi
ਟੌਨਿਕ, ਟੋਨਿਕ, ਟਾਨਿਕ
tonic in Gujarati
ટોનિક, ટૉનિક, ટોનીક
tonic in Odia
ଟନିକ, ଟନିକ୍
tonic in Nepali
टनिक, टॉनिक, टोनिक

Examples of tonic in a sentence

  • I like gin and tonic as a mixed drink, but I really prefer beer.
  • Jesum Crow, why's the statie so upset? We're only drinking tonics out here.
  • He fell back relieved into his favourite camelback with a gin and tonic.

All 33 example sentences with tonic

Forms of tonic

Adjective
comparativemore tonic
superlativemost tonic
alternative form (obsolete)tonick
Noun
pluraltonics
Verb
third-person singular presenttonics
present participletonicking
past participletonicked
pasttonicked

Origin of tonic

From Ancient Greek τονικός (tonikós), from τόνος (tónos). 17th century writers believed health to be derived from firmly stretched muscles, thus tonic; the extension of tonic medicine appeared in the late 18th century. By surface analysis, ton(e) + -ic.

From tone + -ic.

Words formed from tonic

Phrases with tonic

Words that rhyme with tonic

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about tonic

What does tonic mean?
Tonic means pertaining to tension, especially of the muscles.
What is tonic in Hindi?
Tonic in Hindi is टॉनिक, टोनिक. See Tonic meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is tonic?
Tonic can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce tonic?
Tonic is pronounced /ˈtɒnɪk/ (UK).

Words near tonic in the dictionary

  1. tongzhis
  2. Tongzhou
  3. Toni
  4. Tonia
  5. Tonian
  6. tonic
  7. tonic accent
  8. tonic accents
  9. tonic and gin
  10. tonic and gins
  11. tonic immobility

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tonic (page history and authors); tonic (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tonic (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tonic (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); Tonic (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tonic (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tonic (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); tonic (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tonic (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tonic (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tonic (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tonic (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tonic.wav.

Cite this entry: “tonic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tonic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.