kink

1 a painful sudden tightening of a muscle got a kink in my neck from lying in that awkward position for too long Synonyms charley horse, crick, cramp, spasmRelated Words contraction, jerk, pang, stitch, twinge, twitch

2 an odd or peculiar habit the boss's fondness for nicknames is one of those kinks that staffers just have to put up with Synonyms crotchet, curiosity, eccentricity, erraticism, individualism, idiosyncrasy, mannerism, oddity, peculiarity, quiddity, quip, quirk, singularity, tic, trick, twistRelated Words affectation, airs; attribute, characteristic, mark, property, trait; custom, habit, pattern, practice (also practise), way, wont; addiction; abnormality, neuroticism, perversion, weirdness; disposition, genius, leaning, partiality; bent, inclination, penchant, predilection, predisposition, proclivity, propensity, tendency, turn; attitude, character, humor, identity, individuality, nature, personality, temperamentNear Antonyms conformity, sameness

3 a sudden impulsive and apparently unmotivated idea or action whenever he got a kink in his head, he'd drop whatever he was doing to pursue this latest obsession Synonyms bee, caprice, crank, fancy, freak, humor, whim, maggot, megrim, notion, vagary, vagrancy, whimsy (also whimsey)Related Words capriciousness, fancifulness, fantasy (also phantasy), freakishness, impetuosity, whimsicality; conceit; concept, conception, image, impression, mind's eye, picture, thought; brainstorm, inspiration