"spasmodic" in the adjective sense
1. convulsive, spasmodic, spastic
affected by involuntary jerky muscular contractions resembling a spasm
"convulsive motions"
"his body made a spasmodic jerk"
"spastic movements"
2. fitful, spasmodic
occurring in spells and often abruptly
"fitful bursts of energy"
"spasmodic rifle fire"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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