TICS Synonyms: 57 Similar and Opposite Words

tics

noun

plural of tic

as in tricks

an odd or peculiar habit constantly playing with her hair is one of her more annoying tics

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

conformities

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of tics This week, after the billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller published an editorial in The Wall Street Journal criticizing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, his onetime protégé, readers began to notice some familiar tics of AI writing. — Will Oremus, The Atlantic, 27 Aug. 2026 Cage plays Roy, a gifted con artist with obsessive-compulsive disorder whose tics, phobias and elaborate rituals have turned his immaculate home into a fortress against the world. — Los Angeles Times, 20 Aug. 2026 The first four episodes retain most of the novel’s key incidents and tics. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 5 Aug. 2026 Show your unique speaking style For decades, communication coaches counseled clients to ruthlessly eliminate verbal tics and awkward pauses. — Matt Abrahams, Time, 5 Aug. 2026 Mocking each other’s writing tics became part of the fun, just as challenging each other to go darker and twistier was part of the adventure. — Scott Westerfeld, PEOPLE, 19 July 2026 After surgery, that device is programmed to send mild electrical impulses that block abnormal nerve signals and dramatically reduce tics. — Gabby Sartori, USA Today, 3 July 2026 There are linguistic tics and habits that give away formerly Amish people immediately. — Eythana Miller, The Dial, 23 June 2026 Nadal, with a wink, recites the various physical tics involved in his serving routine. — Ava Wallace, New York Times, 29 May 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tics

Noun

Cirque du Soleil’s otherworldly adventure, combining high-flying tricks and underwater artistry, has been reimagined in Shared Reality.

— Mary Caldwell, AJC.com, 25 Aug. 2026
For account takeover, though, getting rid of the six-digit code could take away one of the easiest tricks in a scammer's playbook.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 23 Aug. 2026

Definition of tricks

Noun

In a sprightly performance rife with oddball mannerisms, Gnecco gives Borges equal parts impish wisdom, earthy vulgarity and childlike wonder, rarely letting a moment’s silence go unfilled with eager chatter.

— Guy Lodge, Variety, 29 Aug. 2026
Says strange things and has funny little mannerisms, but within lies a devastatingly sharp mind which can produce something special that people will be talking about for years.

— Tim Spiers, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of mannerisms

Noun

The article notes the overlap between emotional intelligence and psychopathy; while EQ is lauded, psychopathic traits can surprisingly predict career success due to charm and appearing calm under pressure.

— Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
Craig was extremely productive at Harvard and has NFL-caliber traits with his size, mobility and throw power.

— Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of traits

Noun

The glasses still have some quirks to work out, but the potential here is massive.

— Scott Kramer, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2026
The center contributes to global research on gibbons The gibbons are full of personality and individual quirks, and Skollar knows them well after decades at the center.

— Jaimie Ding, Fortune, 23 Aug. 2026

Definition of quirks

Noun

Directly transferring the original walking policy failed because the second robot had different body proportions, joint configurations, and motor characteristics.

— Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 28 Aug. 2026
According to the team, each of those characteristics plays out similarly in real fish of various sizes across different ecological niches.

— Mack DeGeurin, Popular Science, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of characteristics

Noun

One of the newest members of the billionaire club, Scale AI cofounder Lucy Guo, is a more recent example of someone whose spending habits have remained relatively modest as her fortune has soared.

— Preston Fore, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026
Tracks stool consistency, hydration, urinary health and bathroom habits.

— Hanna Wickes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of habits

Noun

Recently, though, a wave of UK properties have started to embrace the kinds of cultural eccentricities that Greco saw as lacking in those hotels.

— Dipal Acharya, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Aug. 2026
But unlike the best of Ferrell’s earlier roles, Hawkins’s eccentricities feel like surface-level strangeness, connected to nothing surprising or soulful underneath.

— Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 16 July 2026

Definition of eccentricities

Noun

There’s no better way to quickly learn a person’s idiosyncrasies than living with them.

— Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2026
If LRMs can supercharge mathematics research the way AlphaFold did for computational biology, this line of thinking goes, why not embrace them, idiosyncrasies and all, and just verify the results?

— John Pavlus, Quanta Magazine, 31 July 2026