antic
noun · adjective · verb
Simple meaning
A ludicrous or grotesque act done for fun and amusement.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
antikSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈæntɪk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A ludicrous or grotesque act done for fun and amusement
often in the plural
A ludicrous gesture or act; ridiculous behaviour; caper.
A grotesque performer or clown, buffoon.
A caricature.
adjective
Playful, funny, absurd.
verb
intransitive
To perform antics, to caper.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A grotesque performer or clown, buffoon.
Used this way, antic is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: ludicrous
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “antic” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.