9 letters · 16 points in Scrabble
adjective affected by involuntary jerky muscular contractions; resembling a spasm
adjective occurring in spells and often abruptly
originFrom New Latin spasmōdicus, from Ancient Greek σπασμώδης (spasmṓdēs, “spasmodic”), from σπασμός (spasmós, “spasm”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0