1
: local and habitual spasmodic motion of particular muscles especially of the face : twitching
2
: a frequent usually unconscious quirk of behavior or speech
"you know" is a verbal tic
Synonyms
Examples of tic in a Sentence
The verbal tic “you know” often occurs in her speech.
constantly playing with her hair is one of her more annoying tics
Recent Examples on the Web
Older internet vernacular involved quoting memes or making references to nerd culture, but brain rot offers strange sentence constructions and rhetorical tics with a broad range of possible applications.
—
Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2025
In public, her tics are often met with stares and whispers — or at worst, hostile confrontations — from nearby strangers.
—Zoey Lyttle, People.com, 13 Jan. 2025
DeHaan is, as has unfortunately been the case too often in his career, given a bunch of strange tics and asked to generate a character out of that.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 9 Jan. 2025
Her personality has been cleansed of the too-obvious psychological tics (alcoholism, narcissism, delusion) used to explain her unseemly propositions.
—Amanda Hess, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for tic 
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Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2025
In public, her tics are often met with stares and whispers — or at worst, hostile confrontations — from nearby strangers.
—Zoey Lyttle, People.com, 13 Jan. 2025
DeHaan is, as has unfortunately been the case too often in his career, given a bunch of strange tics and asked to generate a character out of that.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 9 Jan. 2025
Her personality has been cleansed of the too-obvious psychological tics (alcoholism, narcissism, delusion) used to explain her unseemly propositions.
—Amanda Hess, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for tic
Dictionary Entries Near tic
Cite this Entry
“Tic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tic. Accessed 11 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tic
noun1
: a regularly repeated twitching movement of a particular muscle and especially one of the face
2
: a particular form of behavior or speech that is often repeated
"you know" is a verbal tic
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