Meaning & use
spastic
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounmedicaltechnical
In medicine, describing muscles that tighten and contract involuntarily, causing stiffness and difficulty moving.
Grammar: Appears in clinical phrases: spastic muscle.
Patterns
- spastic muscles
- spastic paralysis
The doctor noted spastic muscles in the patient's legs.
Spastic paralysis can follow damage to the spinal cord.
Therapy can reduce spastic movements in the arm.
adjectivecomparableoffensiveslang
Used as an insult for someone clumsy or foolish; this use is offensive because it mocks people with disabilities.
Grammar: It is better to avoid this use entirely.
Using spastic as an insult is offensive and widely condemned.
Schools teach students not to use spastic as a slang word.
The editor removed the term spastic from the old script.
nouncountableoffensive
A person with spasticity; the word is now considered offensive when used this way, and 'person with spasticity' is preferred.
Grammar: Avoid; use person-first language.
Calling someone a spastic is considered deeply offensive.
The old charity changed its name because it included the word spastic.
Medical writers now say person with cerebral palsy instead.
Word forms
| plural | spastics |
|---|
Common combinations
- spastic muscle
- A spastic muscle can feel rigid.
- spastic paralysis
- Spastic paralysis affects movement.
- spastic colon
- Spastic colon is an older name for a bowel disorder.
- spastic movement
- Spastic movements can be jerky.
- spastic gait
- A spastic gait is stiff.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rigid
- Rigid means stiff and is used for many things, not just muscles under nerve control.
- contracted
- Contracted means shortened or tightened, and does not imply involuntary nerve signals.
- hypertonic
- Hypertonic is the more technical clinical term for muscles with too much tone.
- cramping
- Cramping is a short painful tightening, while spastic describes a longer-term condition.
Opposites
Word family
- spasm noun
- a sudden involuntary muscle contraction
- spasticity noun
- the condition of having stiff muscles
- spastically adverb
- in a stiff, jerky way
- spasmodic adjective
- happening in sudden bursts
Commonly confused: spastic or spasmodic?
spastic vs spasmodic
Spasmodic describes things that happen in sudden bursts, such as coughing, and is not offensive.
Practice
Which use of 'spastic' is acceptable in a medical report?
Choose one answer.
In clinical writing spastic describes muscle tone. The other uses are insults or outdated labels for people, so they are offensive.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “spastic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.