as in trick
an odd or peculiar habit
constantly playing with her hair is one of her more annoying tics
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Recent Examples of tic
Tourette syndrome is a neurological condition that may cause involuntary movements and vocal tics, sometimes involving outbursts of inappropriate language, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
—
Mason Leib, ABC News, 10 Apr. 2026
During the first 30 minutes of the show, Davidson repeatedly issued loud, involuntary vocal tics that were clear to those in the audience and on clips later circulated on social media.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 8 Apr. 2026
Brooks is still wont to assume that social crises are a function of our personal habits, not economic or political injustice, and his methodological tics are the same as ever.
—Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
Once Ida is revived, Buckley is rife with tics and guttural asides, switching between rat-a-tat mobster slang and Shelley’s flowery English prose like some postmodern literary Gollum.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 6 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tic
Mason Leib, ABC News, 10 Apr. 2026
During the first 30 minutes of the show, Davidson repeatedly issued loud, involuntary vocal tics that were clear to those in the audience and on clips later circulated on social media.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 8 Apr. 2026
Brooks is still wont to assume that social crises are a function of our personal habits, not economic or political injustice, and his methodological tics are the same as ever.
—Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
Once Ida is revived, Buckley is rife with tics and guttural asides, switching between rat-a-tat mobster slang and Shelley’s flowery English prose like some postmodern literary Gollum.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 6 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tic
Noun
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Winston makes a cameo to execute another electric Ford Field trick play, and the Giants lose a close one with their offense starting to find a new gear.—
Pat Leonard,
New York Daily News,
15 May 2026
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Sophisticated as chatbots’ responses may be, they are stitched together from statistical patterns in large datasets—an impressive trick but one that still falls short of the breadth and reliability in human-level clinical reasoning.—
Cody Cottier,
Scientific American,
15 May 2026
Noun
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Ming notes that these same four traits, measured in children, predict lifetime earnings and all-cause mortality rates.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
16 May 2026
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More to Explore The researchers found that faces that were rated as more attractive were rated more highly across all positive traits—not just competence, but intelligence, responsibility, and other traits—and were rated lower on all negative traits.—
Ben Ambridge,
JSTOR Daily,
15 May 2026
Noun
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This compression of the purchase funnel is now the defining characteristic of modern fashion commerce, separating market leaders from those struggling to keep pace.—
Arthur Zaczkiewicz,
Footwear News,
15 May 2026
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One of the defining characteristics of Nicole Wise’s first season as the Mater Dei softball coach surfaced again Thursday.—
Dan Albano,
Oc Register,
15 May 2026
Noun
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They are built from real people, whose voices and mannerisms are available to anyone paying attention.—
Seth Abramovitch,
HollywoodReporter,
15 May 2026
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Ellie tries to embody each artist and that takes studying of the mannerisms because the mannerisms are what bring it to life, not the staging or anything else.—
Ralphie Aversa,
USA Today,
9 May 2026
Noun
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This wasn’t a personality quirk.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
18 May 2026
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Most internet security — think of the tiny padlock symbol in your internet browser — is currently based on encryption that relies on a quirk of math.—
Katie Hunt,
CNN Money,
17 May 2026
Noun
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Although jazz can be powerfully expressive of a composer or musician’s personal idiosyncrasies and attitude (think of Miles Davis or Sun Ra), blues is the domain of raw emotion.—
René Ostberg,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
15 May 2026
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That candor is refreshing, and the film’s conclusions about accepting the idiosyncrasies of one’s individual eros are quite moving.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
13 May 2026
Noun
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Of course, in addition to being perfect by becoming a doctor, John had selected, despite her eccentricities, the perfect mate in their parents’ eyes.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 May 2026
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Still, even an understanding of Turner’s eccentricities didn’t prepare the Braves to learn the morning of their game against Pittsburgh that the team’s owner was now the manager.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
6 May 2026
Noun
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Harbaugh plans to run a grueling training camp to try to better prepare the Giants for their early season games, but reversing a decade-plus of bad organizational habits and starts might take time.—
Pat Leonard,
New York Daily News,
15 May 2026
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The Sun forms a cazimi with Mercury in Taurus in your 6th House of Daily Routine, bringing a useful insight around schedules, wellness, work habits, or the way your day is structured.—
Tarot.com,
Hartford Courant,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tic. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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