antic

14 synonyms for antic, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Noun — A piece of foolish, playful or attention-seeking behaviour; usually used in the plural.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

joke trick fantastic

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

prank grotesque bizarre

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

shenanigans capers tomfoolery escapades larks caper fantastical clownish

Synonyms by Meaning

1. noun

A piece of foolish, playful or attention-seeking behaviour; usually used in the plural.

“The crowd loved the goalkeeper's antics on the goal line.”

shenanigans capers tomfoolery escapades larks prank joke trick caper

2. adjective literary

Grotesque or absurd in an oddly theatrical way.

“He struck an antic pose and swept off his hat.”

grotesque fantastical clownish bizarre fantastic

How to use antic

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

up to his old antics childish antics on-field antics tired of the antics

The plural noun is everyday and neutral; the adjective is literary and now uncommon.

Etymology

From Italian antico, ancient, from Latin antiquus. The word was first applied to the grotesque human and animal figures found in excavated Roman remains, and passed from those strange images to strange behaviour.

Full origin of antic →

Frequently asked questions

Is antic used in the singular?

Very rarely as a noun. In modern English the noun is almost always plural — "his antics" — and a singular "an antic" sounds wrong to most ears.

What is the difference between antics and shenanigans?

Antics are usually visible, physical and silly, the sort of thing a child or a clown does. Shenanigans leans more towards mischief and underhand dealing, and can imply something dishonest as well as playful.

What does "antic disposition" mean in Hamlet?

Hamlet's phrase refers to the mad, clownish manner he intends to put on as a disguise. It uses the older adjective sense of antic, meaning grotesque or theatrically strange, not the modern sense of playful mischief.

People also searched

joke fantastic trick bizarre prank grotesque shenanigans caper tomfoolery fantastical clownish

Nearby words

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