spasmodic C2 Topic:Health & Medicine US /spæzˈmɑ.dɪk/ UK /spæzˈmɒd.ɪk/ See IPA manual Freq #97826 Meanings 1 adj happening suddenly and irregularly in short bursts The lamp gave a spasmodic flicker before it went out. 2 adj involving involuntary muscle spasms or jerky contractions He felt a spasmodic twitch in his shoulder. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · happening suddenly and... fitfulintermittentirregular 2 adj · involving involuntary... convulsivejerky ↔ Opposites steadycontinuous Word family Forms spasmodically Derived forms nonspasmodicpostspasmodicspasmodicallyspasmodicityspasmodicnessspasmodismspasmodist Related forms spasmspasmic Common collocations spasmodic jerk Adjective + noun Etymology From New Latin spasmōdicus, from Ancient Greek σπασμώδης (spasmṓdēs, “spasmodic”), from σπασμός (spasmós, “spasm”). Topics Health & Medicine External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # spasmodic **Type:** Word **Level:** C2 **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /spæzˈmɑ.dɪk/ **IPA (UK):** /spæzˈmɒd.ɪk/ **Frequency rank:** 97826 ## Meanings 1. happening suddenly and irregularly in short bursts 2. involving involuntary muscle spasms or jerky contractions ## Examples - The lamp gave a spasmodic flicker before it went out. - He felt a spasmodic twitch in his shoulder. ## Synonyms - fitful - intermittent - jerky - convulsive ## Antonyms - steady - continuous ## Derived Forms - nonspasmodic - postspasmodic - spasmodically - spasmodicity - spasmodicness - spasmodism - spasmodist ## Related Forms - spasm - spasmic ## Etymology From New Latin spasmōdicus, from Ancient Greek σπασμώδης (spasmṓdēs, “spasmodic”), from σπασμός (spasmós, “spasm”). ## Topics - Health & Medicine markdown