antic
Americannoun
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Usually antics.
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a playful trick or prank; caper.
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a grotesque, fantastic, or ludicrous gesture, act, or posture.
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Archaic.
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an actor in a grotesque or ridiculous presentation.
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a buffoon; clown.
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Obsolete.
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a grotesque theatrical presentation; ridiculous interlude.
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a grotesque or fantastic sculptured figure, as a gargoyle.
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adjective
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ludicrous; funny.
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fantastic; odd; grotesque.
an antic disposition.
verb (used without object)
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of antic
1520–30; earlier antike, antique < Italian antico ancient (< Latin antīcus, antīquus; see antique), apparently taken to mean “grotesque,” as used in descriptions of fantastic figures found in Roman ruins
Explanation
An antic is a prank to the extreme. It’s outrageous, but it’s usually meant to be funny. When the senior class steals the principal’s car and manages to get it inside the gym, the antic may be condemned by the school, but everyone else probably thinks it’s hilarious. The noun antic is most commonly used in the plural form, as in “the coach was growing tired of his star player’s silly antics after scoring.” Sometimes antics can lean toward the not-so-funny side as well. Really ridiculous behavior that is more foolish than funny can also be called antics. Antic can also be used an as adjective, as in "her antic stand-up routine had everyone rolling in the aisles." It more infrequently can be used as a verb meaning "to act like a clown."
Vocabulary lists containing antic
Tricky Terms for April Fool's Day
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Stargirl
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Lacking any of Semple’s antic humor, the manuscript was scrapped.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
He was substituted after just one minute having not touched the ball, but the publicity antic sparked a major backlash.
From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2025
The agility competition might be the rhythmic gymnastics of Westminster, derided as less than by traditionalists, but it’s a growing sport with meritocratic principles and an air of antic fun in its favor.
From Seattle Times ● May 12, 2024
Peter Schickele, an American composer whose career as a writer of serious concert music was often eclipsed by that of his antic alter ego, the thoroughly debauched, terrifyingly prolific and mercifully fictional P.D.Q.
From New York Times ● Jan. 17, 2024
He asks no questions and offers no tales, deprived of his antic companion, with whom the recounting of incident was a joy.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Some gave a shout, some rolled about, And anticked as they rode, And butchers whistled on their curs, And milkmen tally-hoed.
From The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood by Hood, Thomas
And he galloped on, as cheery as a boy, shouting at the rabbits as they scuttled from under his feet, and laughing at the dottrel as they postured and anticked on the mole-hills.
From Hereward, the Last of the English by Kingsley, Charles
Milling crowds, jammed doorways, the continuous free street show put on by the anticking Legionnaires was the answer.
From Time Magazine Archive
And so she looked very hard at the hungry anticking rooks, both to secure time for recovery of her equanimity, and also to spare Richard smallest suspicion that she avoided beholding his advance and installation.
From The History of Sir Richard Calmady A Romance by Malet, Lucas
I thought you scoffed at all baritones, and only delighted in maudlin tenors and anticking sopranos.
From The Dominant Strain by Edwards, H. C. (Harry C.)
Jerry no more than cocked a contemptuous quizzical eye at the mainsail anticking above him.
From Jerry of the Islands by London, Jack
She fixed her eyes upon the small prophets and patriarchs anticking upon the hearth.
From The History of Sir Richard Calmady A Romance by Malet, Lucas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
