Lloyd Rose
Did you know?
When referring to one of the grotesques—the fanciful, often fantastical mural paintings found in the ruins of ancient Roman buildings—the Italian descendants of the ancient Romans used the word antico, meaning “ancient thing.” In 16th-century English, antico (itself a descendant of the Latin word for “ancient,” antiquus) became antic, and got applied as both a noun and an adjective in contexts related to decorative art—sculptures, painting, architecture, etc.—inspired by the original grotesques. Antic shifted in meaning over time, eventually gaining the senses we use more often today: antic as an adjective describes the absurd or whimsical, and antic as a usually plural noun refers to attention-grabbing, playful or funny acts and actions.
Examples of antic in a Sentence
Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Sep. 2025
Jackson Olson‘s antics for the Savannah Bananas aren’t just catching the notice of fans.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 18 Sep. 2025
Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 7 Aug. 2025
The antic was a first for a sitting Wisconsin congressman.
—Anna Kleiber, jsonline.com, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for antic
Cite this Entry
“Antic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antic. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
antic
1 of 2 noun
antic
2 of 2 adjective
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