1
as in cramps
a painful sudden tightening of a muscle
he suffers terribly from back spasms
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in bursts
a sudden intense expression of strong feeling
a spasm of love that he had never experienced before
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of spasms
This Hong Kong film’s guiding force is So Wa Wai (Chung-Hang Leung), a real athlete whose aspirations were nearly thwarted by cerebral spasms that made even walking difficult.
—
Chris Snellgrove, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Jan. 2026
Dion has continued to battle stiff-person disorder, a rare disease that attacks the nervous system and causes pain and muscle spasms.
—Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 31 Dec. 2025
Arellano said her spasms initially started in one arm, then progressed to both arms and then to full body spasms.
—Mustafa Fattah, NBC news, 24 Dec. 2025
James, who recently returned to the lineup following missing almost the first full month of the season with lower back spasms, has re-integrated with the team.
—Tyler Erzberger, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2025
Smart was ruled out against the Suns on Monday afternoon because of lower back injury management – a change in injury designation after being listed as out for last Friday’s victory over the Dallas Mavericks and Sunday night’s win against the New Orleans Pelicans because of back spasms.
—Khobi Price, Oc Register, 2 Dec. 2025
Queta and Brown both were listed as questionable for Saturday’s game, with the latter nursing low back spasms.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 30 Nov. 2025
Moments later, the spasms began.
—Sean Williams, Outside, 27 Oct. 2025
Edwards was questionable ahead of the season opener in Portland with back spasms, but played and scored 41 points against the Blazers.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 26 Oct. 2025
Chris Snellgrove, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Jan. 2026
Dion has continued to battle stiff-person disorder, a rare disease that attacks the nervous system and causes pain and muscle spasms.
—Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 31 Dec. 2025
Arellano said her spasms initially started in one arm, then progressed to both arms and then to full body spasms.
—Mustafa Fattah, NBC news, 24 Dec. 2025
James, who recently returned to the lineup following missing almost the first full month of the season with lower back spasms, has re-integrated with the team.
—Tyler Erzberger, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2025
Smart was ruled out against the Suns on Monday afternoon because of lower back injury management – a change in injury designation after being listed as out for last Friday’s victory over the Dallas Mavericks and Sunday night’s win against the New Orleans Pelicans because of back spasms.
—Khobi Price, Oc Register, 2 Dec. 2025
Queta and Brown both were listed as questionable for Saturday’s game, with the latter nursing low back spasms.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 30 Nov. 2025
Moments later, the spasms began.
—Sean Williams, Outside, 27 Oct. 2025
Edwards was questionable ahead of the season opener in Portland with back spasms, but played and scored 41 points against the Blazers.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 26 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spasms
Noun
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Peterson has played limited minutes in the second halves of games since returning from his two-game absence also caused by cramps.—
Shreyas Laddha,
Kansas City Star,
13 Jan. 2026
-
That included three or more loose stools within a 24-hour period, or what is more than normal for that specific person, or vomiting with one of the following symptoms – diarrhea, muscle aches, headaches, abdominal cramps or a fever.—
Steven Yablonski,
CBS News,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
After testing the interest of sports fans in short-form content, Disney aims to bring brief bursts to a broader audience.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Operating for thousands of daily cycles over decades trumps quick bursts of power.—
Tejasri Gururaj,
Interesting Engineering,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
While Russian defense officials did not say where the Oreshnik hit this time, Ukrainian authorities on Friday reported several explosions and a ballistic missile strike in the western city of Lviv.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
9 Jan. 2026
-
Test explosions became increasingly rare.—
Chicago Tribune,
Twin Cities,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Police were called twice to the home to respond to apparent angry outbursts from Bushey, once after the knives were removed, and once after the locks were changed, which reportedly led Bushey to break off a doorknob in order to enter the house.—
City News Service,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
12 Jan. 2026
-
As 6-7 went viral, teachers complained that random outbursts by their students were interrupting their lessons.—
Rebekah Willett,
Fortune,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The world often failed to use those political eruptions to actually improve the lot of the people in those countries.—
Jay Reddick,
The Orlando Sentinel,
7 Jan. 2026
-
On top of that, cosmic rays and the Sun's own eruptions can upset electronics.—
Leonard David,
Space.com,
4 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Tracy’s script skewers the hollow moral language of powerful corporate elites like Stone’s character, while also probing the anger and alienation driving Teddy and Don, treating their bonkers beliefs with both satire and unsettling flashes of emotional truth.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Jan. 2026
-
Those flickers or flashes were used to show intrusive thoughts or moments of wonder.—
Destiny Jackson,
Deadline,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Sustained, strong winds with even stronger gusts are happening.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
11 Jan. 2026
-
Winds turn gusty behind the front, with northwest gusts up to 25 to 35 mph Sunday evening and overnight.—
Andrew Kozak,
CBS News,
11 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spasms.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spasms. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.
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