spastic meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

spastic

adj

UK /ˈspastɪk/ · US /ˈspæstɪk/

Etymology Learned borrowing from Latin spasticus, from Ancient Greek σπαστικός (spastikós, “drawing in”). By surface analysis, spasm + -tic. Cf. French spastique and see also spasm.

Medicine, Pathology, Sciences Of, relating to, or affected by spasm.

Medicine, Pathology, Sciences Of or relating to spastic paralysis.

Colloquial, Derogatory, Offensive, In the UK and Ireland Incompetent or physically uncoordinated.

Colloquial, Derogatory, Offensive, In the UK and Ireland Hyperactive or behaving erratically.

Derived terms: angiospastic, antispastic, blepharospastic, bronchospastic, hemispastic, laryngospastic, musculospastic, myospastic, nonspastic, paraspastic, spastic abasia, spastically, spastic colitis, spastic colon, spasticity, spastic tetraplegia, spastin, tetraspastic, vasospastic

spastic

noun

Etymology Learned borrowing from Latin spasticus, from Ancient Greek σπαστικός (spastikós, “drawing in”). By surface analysis, spasm + -tic. Cf. French spastique and see also spasm.

Especially, Offensive, In the UK and Ireland A person affected by spastic paralysis or spastic cerebral palsy.

Colloquial, Derogatory, Especially, Offensive, In the UK and Ireland A stupid, clumsy person.

‘Oi, Fleming, you spastic. Guess who I knobbed last night?’1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 17:
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 Partridge:

1 more example

Tracy 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:

Derived terms: scoper, spack, spacker, spasticated, spaz, spazz