tic

¹ American  

[tik] / tɪk /

noun

1. Pathology.

   1. a sudden, spasmodic, painless, involuntary muscular contraction, as of the face.

   2. tic douloureux.

2. a persistent or recurrent behavioral trait; personal quirk.

   her distinctive verbal tics.

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-tic ² American  

1. a suffix, equivalent in meaning to -ic, occurring in adjectives of Greek origin (analytic ), used especially in the formation of adjectives from nouns with stems in -sis: hematotic; neurotic.

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tic British  

/ tɪk /

noun

1. spasmodic twitching of a particular group of muscles

2. See tic douloureux

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Etymology

Origin of tic¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; from French (of expressive origin)

Origin of -tic²

< Greek -tikos, extracted from adjectives derived with -ikos -ic from agent nouns ending in -tēs; hieratic

Example Sentences

Sports underestimate their human elements, the tics and oddities that make them unique.

From The Wall Street Journal

I supposed this was James, and despite my scorn for Ma’s little ploy, an involuntary tic of curiosity ran through me.

From Literature

He said he worked with real-life identical twins as consultants to fully understand the dynamics which led him to add "subtle nuances and behavioural tics" to differentiate the two.

From BBC

Davidson, an executive producer of the film, left midway through the ceremony and said in a statement he was “deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning.”

From Los Angeles Times

“What are your emotional tics or the things that soothe you or that just come with who you are that actually never change? What has changed was up to me.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• twitch