Etymology 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.
1
Playful, funny, absurd.
My men like Satyres grazing on the lawnes, Shall with their Goate feete daunce an antick hay,1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC, (please specify the page):
In recounting the story of Lenny and Eunice in his antic, supercaffeinated prose, Mr. Shteyngart gives us his most powerful and heartfelt novel yet — a novel that performs the delightful feat of mashing up an apocalyptic satire with a genuine supersad true love story.2010 July 26, Michiko Kakutani, “Love Found Amid Ruins of Empire”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
The amusement park environment of seaside resorts such as Venice and the antic eclecticism of Greene & Greene's pre-Craftsman work all preceded the establishment of the movie colony in Hollywood.2004, John Chase, Glitter Stucco and Dumpster Diving: Reflections on Building Production in the Vernacular city, page 58:
Fetch me my Rapier Boy, what dares the ſlaue / Come hither, couer'd with an antique face, / To fleere and ſcorne at our Solemnitie?c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v], page 58:
[…] we all three enter'd the Gate of the Palace between two Rows of Guards, armed and dreſſed after a very antick manner, and ſomething in their Countenances that made my Fleſh creep with a Horror I cannot expreſs.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author Leaves Lagado, Arrives at Maldonada. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part III (A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdribb, Luggnagg, and Japan), page 97:
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[…]a fourth would fondly kiss and paw his companions, and sneer in their faces, with a countenance more antic than any in a Dutch droll.1865, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “Stage-coach Views”, in [Sophia Thoreau; William Ellery Channing], editors, Cape Cod, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 25:
Etymology 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.
In plural, Often A ludicrous gesture or act; ridiculous behaviour; caper.
I'm fed up with your constant antics in class. Please behave yourself!
Two sets of manners, could the youth put on; / And, fraught with antics as the Indian bird / That writhes and chatters in her wiry cage, / Was graceful, when it pleased him, smooth and still / As the mute Swan that floats adown the stream, […]c. 1806–1809 (date written), William Wordsworth, “Book the Sixth. The Church-yard among the Mountains.”, in The Excursion, being a Portion of The Recluse, a Poem, London: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […], published 1814, →OCLC, page 263:
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The woman opened the cover now and then, whereupon the kitten would put out its head, and indulge in playful antics.1894 December – 1895 November, Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], published 1896, →OCLC:
I've 'ad about enough of you and your antics. I been thinking you over, you and your war and your Empire and all the rot of it.1907, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “On Goat Island”, in The War in the Air: […], London: George Bell and Sons, published 1908, →OCLC, § 7, pages 299–300:
Toad ceased his frivolous antics at once. He became grave and depressed, and a dull pain in the lower part of his spine, communicating itself to his legs, made him want to sit down and try desperately not to think of all the possibilities.1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:
She put Rosebud through his paces in the ring, and received her share of applause at the antics of the clever horse.1916, Vance Barnum, Joe Strong on the Trapeze:
4
A grotesque performer or clown, buffoon.
The Grave-maker, like the professional fools and Falstaff, and like Hamlet himself, is an antic, a grotesque, one who demonstrates to men how foolish and1978, Walter C. Foreman, The Music of the Close: The Final Scenes of Shakespeare’s Tragedies, page 90:
Etymology 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.
1
To perform antics, to caper.
Jerry no more than cocked a contemptuous quizzical eye at the mainsail anticking above him. He knew already the empty windiness of its threats, but he was careful of the mainsheet blocks, and walked around the traveller instead of over it.1917 April, Jack London, chapter IV, in Jerry of the Islands, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, page 54:
2
Obsolete To make a fool of, to cause to look ridiculous.
Gentle lords, let's part; / You see we have burnt our cheeks: strong Enobarb / Is weaker than the wine; and mine own tongue / Splits what it speaks: the wild disguise hath almost / Antick'd us all.c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii]:
Whether one's surroundings were anticked up or not, one often felt one was living in another century at Roque.1964, Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts:
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Surtees became a friend of Walter Scott and played a very "anticking" joke upon the author.1982, The Picturesque Tour, page 25:
3
Rare To perform (an action) as an antic; to mimic ridiculously.
She unfastened her dress, her arms arched thin and high, her shadow anticking her movements.1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Vintage, published 1993, page 70: