antic

1 of 2

noun

an·​tic ˈan-tik How to pronounce antic (audio)
1
: an attention-drawing, often wildly playful or funny act or action : caper
usually plural
childish antics
2
archaic : a performer of a grotesque or ludicrous part : buffoon

antic

2 of 2

adjective

1
a
: characterized by clownish extravagance or absurdity
an antic farce
b
: whimsically lighthearted : frolicsome
Gelbart's intelligence is antic and playful.Lloyd Rose
2
archaic : grotesque, bizarre
antically adverb

Did you know?

When Renaissance Italians began exploring the ancient Roman ruins around them, they discovered fantastic mural paintings that they called grottesca (which means "grotesques," a name given to the paintings because they were found in caves, or grotte). Because they were so old, the murals were also called antichi, or "ancient things." English speakers adopted antichi, modifying it to antike or anticke, and eventually any behavior or dress reminiscent of the kind depicted in the Roman murals became known as an antic. Within 20 years of its earliest recorded uses as a noun, antic began appearing as an English adjective. Originally, it meant "grotesque" or "bizarre" (a sense now considered archaic), but today it means "playful, funny, or absurd" and the noun means "an often wildly playful or funny act."

Examples of antic in a Sentence

Noun we'll have no more of your antics, so just settle down
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
What other crazy antics will this season have in store? Lauren Huff, EW.com, 6 Mar. 2024 For example, after the 2020 election, the conventional wisdom was that the press should largely ignore Trump’s antics. Oliver Darcy, CNN, 5 Mar. 2024 The rock band, Fall Out Boy, was among those amused by Butler’s media day antics, inviting the Heat star to show off the look in one of its music videos. Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 28 Feb. 2024 The zoo recently installed a live-streaming camera so the public will not miss out on the cubs’ delightful antics. John Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 22 Feb. 2024 Townsend credited the swim team’s antics when discussing the victory in a postgame news conference. Kyle Melnick, Washington Post, 6 Feb. 2024 And since the league instituted fines in 2023, there are fewer instances of flopping (looking at you, LeBron) so fans can better appreciate players’ mad skills without being turned off by their silly antics. Barbara Ellis, The Denver Post, 5 Feb. 2024 The antics of pop’s then 20-year-old wild child were attention demanding and culturally complicated, but the spectacle nearly swallowed the music whole. Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 28 Feb. 2024 As mentioned, Haaland's club Manchester City is up for the Laureus World Team of the Year award for its treble-winning antics last season that also brought a maiden Champions League crown. Tom Sanderson, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024
Adjective
Qualley and Viswanathan’s performances are pitched high; the former does a lot of antic monologuing. David Sims, The Atlantic, 21 Feb. 2024 An antic Pierre Cardin (Eliott Margueron), who would work on Dior’s first collection, also makes an appearance. Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 14 Feb. 2024 That the story presented me with an apparent dead end gave rise to its antic propulsion. Willing Davidson, The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2024 This makes Benji the antic bomb-thrower and wild card, which is his comfort zone. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 21 Jan. 2024 Since the 1960s, Kempton had been writing sardonic dispatches from the underground scene for The Village Voice, describing in one an antic show by the Velvet Underground at Andy Warhol’s bar. Sasha Weiss, New York Times, 22 Dec. 2023 But the depth of any new relationships forged goes unmeasured in a film that prefers to focus exclusively on our antic, personable protagonist’s efforts to go home and/or stay put. Dennis Harvey, Variety, 14 Nov. 2023 But the actor, Niels Schneider, isn’t doing some antic, wavy-armed French Woody Allen impersonation. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 4 Sep. 2023 Other serious works followed among his many movies to come, but even his later comedies mostly lacked the antic surrealism and manic energy of the formative farces screening in this series. cleveland, 1 Sep. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'antic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Adjective

Italian antico ancient thing or person, from antico ancient, from Latin antiquus — more at antique

First Known Use

Noun

1564, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Adjective

1536, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of antic was in 1536

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Dictionary Entries Near antic

Cite this Entry

“Antic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antic. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

antic

1 of 2 noun
an·​tic ˈant-ik How to pronounce antic (audio)
: a wildly playful or funny act or action

antic

2 of 2 adjective
: wildly playful : frolicsome

More from Merriam-Webster on antic

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