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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

antic.

Playful, funny, absurd.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈæn.tɪk/

  1. Playful, funny, absurd.

  2. Grotesque, incongruous.

  3. Grotesque, bizarre

    archaic

  4. Obsolete form of antique.

    alt-of · obsolete
Where this word comes from

Probably from Italian antico (“ancient”), used to describe ancient wall paintings from classical times, from Latin antiquus (“venerable”). See also Italian grottesco (“grotesque”). Doublet of antique.

noun/ˈæn.tɪk/

  1. A grotesque representation of a figure; a gargoyle.

    obsolete

  2. A caricature.

  3. A ludicrous gesture or act; ridiculous behaviour; caper.

    in-plural · often
    I'm fed up with your constant antics in class. Please behave yourself!

  4. A grotesque performer or clown, buffoon.

  5. Obsolete form of antique.

    alt-of · obsolete
Where this word comes from

Probably from Italian antico (“ancient”), used to describe ancient wall paintings from classical times, from Latin antiquus (“venerable”). See also Italian grottesco (“grotesque”). Doublet of antique.

verb/ˈæn.tɪk/

  1. To perform antics, to caper.

    intransitive

  2. To make a fool of, to cause to look ridiculous.

    obsolete

  3. To perform (an action) as an antic; to mimic ridiculously.

    rare · transitive
Where this word comes from

Probably from Italian antico (“ancient”), used to describe ancient wall paintings from classical times, from Latin antiquus (“venerable”). See also Italian grottesco (“grotesque”). Doublet of antique.

noun/ˈæn.tɪk/

  1. A pose, often exaggerated, in anticipation of an action; for example, a brief squat before jumping

Where this word comes from

From anticipation.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.