English edit

Etymology edit

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

Pronunciation edit

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

Adjective edit

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.
  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.

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Translations edit

Noun edit

spasmodic (plural spasmodics)

  1. A medicine for suppressing spasms.
    Synonym: antispasmodic

Romanian edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from French spasmodique.

Adjective edit

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

  1. spasmodic

Declension edit