myoclonic

1 9.9

Showing sudden muscle jerks that happen without control

adjective
/ˌmaɪəˈklɒnɪk/

Specialized

: mioclónico

During the examination, the patient exhibited signs of myoclonic activity in his arms.
a myoclonic jerk
myoclonic seizures

Examples

There was no myoclonic jerk.

The Cabin Movie (2005)
Caused a myoclonic jerk.

The Cabin Movie (2005)
Myoclonic seizures cause sudden jerking movements in various parts of the body.
The doctor explained that myoclonic twitches can occur during sleep.

Synonyms

spasmodic

vsmyoclonic

2 8.1

Happening suddenly in short, irregular bursts or movements

is specific to sudden involuntary muscle jerks rather than general movements

spasmic

vsmyoclonic

7.9

Happening in sudden short uncontrolled movements or bursts

is specific to sudden involuntary muscle twitches rather than general spasms

Surface Forms

myoclonic positive

Morphology

myoclonic = myoclonus (opaque) = myo + clonus + ic

Formed from Greek combining forms and a medical noun plus the adjectival suffix '-ic'; the parts are technical and not predictable to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Myoclonic comes from Greek parts myo- meaning 'muscle' and -clonic meaning 'rapid movement'. So a myoclonic movement is like a quick 'muscle shake', which is why the word describes sudden, involuntary muscle jerks or twitches.