hypertonic vs. hypotonic

hypertonic vs. hypotonic: What’s the difference?

In the context of muscles, hypertonic describes muscles that have abnormally high tension, while hypotonic describes those that lack normal tone or tension. In chemistry, when comparing two solutions, hypertonic is used to describe the one with the higher osmotic pressure, and hypertonic is used to describe the one with lower osmotic pressure. Remember: hyper- basically means “high,” and hypo- basically means “low.”