dystonia

noun

dys·​to·​nia dis-ˈtō-nē-ə 

: any of various conditions (such as Parkinson's disease and torticollis) characterized by abnormalities of movement and muscle tone

dystonic

dis-ˈtä-nik 

adjective

Examples of dystonia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Spasmodic dysphonia, now referred to as laryngeal dystonia, is a rare neurological condition affecting the vocal cords. —Emily Kay Votruba, EverydayHealth.com, 31 Jan. 2025

Still other types of dystonia can focus on the legs, hands and feet, even the entire body. —Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 29 Jan. 2025

Other types of dystonia include writer’s cramp and neck dystonia, and both occur during active movements, Frankford says, like knee-jerk contractions in the fingers, hand, or forearm. —Angela Haupt, TIME, 29 Jan. 2025

The condition is considered a form of focal dystonia, a movement disorder that causes muscle contractions in a specific body part. —Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, 29 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from German Dystonie, from dys- dys- + -tonie -tonia

Note: Though dystonia appears in polyglot medial lexica in the 19th century, the use of the word to refer to a specific condition probably dates from the German neurologist Hermann Oppenheim's application of Dystonie to the condition he named dystonia musculorum deformans in the article "Über eine eigenartige Krampfkrankheit des kindlichen und jugendlichen Alters (dysbasia lordotica progressiva, dystonia musculorum deformans)," Neurologisches Centralblatt, Band 30 (1911), pp. 1090-1107.

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

dystonia

noun

dys·​to·​nia dis-ˈtō-nē-ə 

: a state of disordered tonicity of tissues (as of muscle)

dystonic

-ˈtän-ik 

adjective