Dystonia

//dɪˈstəʊnɪə// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A disabling neurological disorder in which prolonged and repetitive contractions of muscles cause jerking, twisting movements and abnormal postures of the body. countable, uncountable

    "In one type of vocal dystonia called lingual protrusion dystonia, a person’s tongue can protrude when they try to speak, strangling their words."

Synonyms

All synonyms
neurodystonianeurodystonia

Example

More examples

"Chuck Lampe, 44, an independent publisher in Florida, has been taking shots of Botox deep into the muscles of his legs for 10 years to lessen the discomfort of a genetic disorder called torsion dystonia, an extreme and long-lasting version of the condition commonly called “writer’s cramp.”"

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin dystonia, from German Dystonie. By surface analysis, dys- + -tonia.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.