1. lacking normal muscle tone or strength; flaccid
Usage: medical/physiological term
2. lacking stress or accent; unstressed
Usage: linguistics/phonetics term

Examples

• The patient's atonic muscles made it difficult for him to walk without assistance.
• After the stroke, her left arm became atonic and required physical therapy.
• In English, many function words like 'the' and 'a' are atonic in speech.
• The atonic vowel in the final syllable is often reduced to a schwa sound.
• Atonic seizures cause a sudden loss of muscle tone, making the person collapse.
• The doctor noted the atonic condition of the patient's limbs during the examination.