spasmodic

From New Latin spasmōdicus, from Ancient Greek σπασμώδης (spasmṓdēs, “spasmodic”), from σπασμός (spasmós, “spasm”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /spæzˈmɒd.ɪk/
• (US) IPA^(key): /spæzˈmɑ.dɪk/

• Audio (General Australian):

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spasmodic (comparative more spasmodic, superlative most spasmodic)

1. Of or relating to a spasm; resembling a sudden contraction of the muscles.
2. Convulsive; consisting of spasms.

   spasmodic asthma

   • 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: Printed for Harmen Noorthouck […], →OCLC, page 52:

     […] 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 Ducts of the Brain.

   • 2025 January 29, Sandee LaMotte, “A rare brain disorder robbed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of his strong speaking voice”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Kennedy’s vocal rasp is not caused by an infection or respiratory condition. Instead, he has spasmodic dysphonia, a rare neurological condition in which the muscles that open and close his vocal cords spasm involuntarily, creating a strained or strangled quality to his speech.

3. Intermittent or fitful; occurring in abrupt bursts.

   Synonyms: patchy, stop-start; see also Thesaurus:discontinuous

   spasmodic zeal or industry

   • 1900 April, Willa Cather, “Eric Hermannson's Soul”, in Cosmopolitan:

     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.

4. Erratic or unsustained.
5. Of or relating to the spasmodic poets, a group of British Victorian poets who wrote introspective drama in verse.

• spasmodically
• spasmodism
• spasmodist

• spasm
• spasmic

spasmodic (plural spasmodics)

1. A medicine for suppressing spasms.

   Synonym: antispasmodic

Borrowed from French spasmodique.

spasmodic m or n (feminine singular spasmodică, masculine plural spasmodici, feminine and neuter plural spasmodice)

1. spasmodic