Dyssynergic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Indicating the condition where muscle movements do not work in sync with each other
2. Referring to the impaired ability of various muscle groups to coordinate effectively
3. Characterizing a condition in which muscles fail to contract in harmony, leading to uncoordinated movement

Etymology: "Dyssynergic" is built from two Greek-derived parts. The prefix "dys-" comes from Greek "dys-", meaning bad, ill, or difficult, as in "dyspepsia" (poor digestion) and "dysfunction." The second part, "synergic," describes things working together, from Greek "synergos," meaning "working together," which is also the source of "synergy." Joined together, the word literally means "working together badly." The word's sense is narrow and medical. It describes muscles that should contract in a coordinated sequence but instead fire out of step with one another, so that movement becomes clumsy or jerky. The "syn-" in "synergy" carries the same idea of joint action that the word depends on, which makes its meaning easy to reconstruct from its parts even if you have never encountered it before.