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

Overtaxing the larynx, for instance, could cause vocal tension dystonia, a speech and swallowing disorder. —Alexandra Willingham, CNN, 6 July 2024

The disorder, also known as laryngeal dystonia, hits women more often than men. —James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024

The couple, then based in Oakland, California, had penciled in a trip to Andalusia, Spain, months before, but were unsure whether to go ahead with it when the health of Luban, who has torsion dystonia, a rare movement disorder, began to deteriorate. —Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2024

In a recent study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, Horn and an international team of researchers took data from more than 530 electrodes implanted in the brains of more than 200 people living with four conditions: Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, Tourette’s syndrome and OCD. —Brenda Goodman, CNN, 15 Mar. 2024

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