Meanings
comparative more spastic · superlative most spastic
- medicineOf, relating to, or affected by spasm.
- medicineOf or relating to spastic paralysis.
- colloquialderogatoryoffensiveIncompetent or physically uncoordinated.
- colloquialderogatoryoffensiveHyperactive or behaving erratically.
plural spastics
- especiallyoffensiveA person affected by spastic paralysis or spastic cerebral palsy.
- colloquialderogatoryespeciallyoffensiveA stupid, clumsy person.
‘Oi, Fleming, you spastic. Guess who I knobbed last night?’
1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 172 more examples
Jed Maxwell: See you next week then. We'll have that pint. Alan Partridge: Yep. Jed Maxwell: ...go and see my brother. Alan Partridge: No way, you big spastic! You're a mentalist!
1997 December 1, Peter Baynham, Steve Coogan, Armando Iannucci, “To Kill a Mocking Alan”, in I'm Alan PartridgeTracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky): Show Link! This is nuts—she can't even dance. Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes): Plastic little spastic. Tracy Turnblad: Oh, Link, I can dance so much better than her. Penny Pingleton: Mhm! Tracy Turnblad: Why don't you notice me at school?
2007 July 20, Leslie Dixon, Hairspray, spoken by Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes), Ingenious Media, Zadan/Meron Productions; distributed by New Line Cinema
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveaffected by involuntary jerky muscular contractions; resembling a spasm
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekσπαστικός“drawing in”
- Latinspasticus
- Englishspastic
Learned borrowing from Latin spasticus, from Ancient Greek σπαστικός (spastikós, “drawing in”). By surface analysis, spasm + -tic. Cf. French spastique and see also spasm.
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan espàstic
- espàsticof, relating to, or affected by spasm
Danish krampagtig, spastisk
- krampagtigof, relating to, or affected by spasm
- spastiskof or relating to spastic paralysis
- spastikerperson affected by spastic paralysis or spastic cerebral palsy
Finnish spastinen, kouristuksellinen
- spastinenof, relating to, or affected by spasm
- kouristuksellinenof, relating to, or affected by spasm
- kouristuksenomainenof, relating to, or affected by spasm
- spastinenof or relating to spastic paralysis
- tempoilevahyperactive, excited, and random manner
- toheloclumsy
- kankeaclumsy
- spastikkoperson affected by spastic paralysis or spastic cerebral palsy
- toheloclumsy person
French spastique, handicapé moteur
- spastiqueof, relating to, or affected by spasm
- handicapé moteurof or relating to spastic paralysis
- spastiqueof or relating to spastic paralysis
German spastisch, spastisch
- spastischof, relating to, or affected by spasm
- spastischof or relating to spastic paralysis
Italian spastico, spastico
- spasticoof, relating to, or affected by spasm
- spasticoof or relating to spastic paralysis
Polish spastyczny, spastyczny
- spastycznyof, relating to, or affected by spasm
- spastycznyof or relating to spastic paralysis
- niezdaraclumsy person
Russian спазмати́ческий, спазма́тик
- спазмати́ческий (spazmatíčeskij)of, relating to, or affected by spasm
- спазма́тик (spazmátik)person affected by spastic paralysis or spastic cerebral palsy
Swedish spastisk, spastisk
- spastiskof, relating to, or affected by spasm
- spastiskof or relating to spastic paralysis
- spastikerperson affected by spastic paralysis or spastic cerebral palsy
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with spastic
Cite this entry
spastic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spastic
“spastic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spastic. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spastic,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spastic.
Source: spastic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.