What does antick mean?
"Antick" is an archaic spelling of "antic," a word with two intertwined meanings. As a noun, it can denote a ludicrous gesture, posture, or prank — the sense that survives today in the familiar plural "antics" — or a grotesque, fantastic figure of the kind found in ancient Roman wall paintings, where human and plant forms merge into monsters. As an adjective, it describes anything bizarre, grotesque, or playfully absurd. The word entered English in the sixteenth century from Italian "antico," meaning "ancient": Renaissance decorators imitating excavated Roman palaces called their strange hybrid creatures "antiques' works," and the term drifted from describing the art to describing any outlandish caper. Today "antick" itself survives mainly in older literature, but its descendants remain lively: we still speak of children's antics, and "antic" endures as an adjective for the wildly whimsical.
A ludicrous gesture, posture, or prank; also, a grotesque or fantastic figure, especially one of the hybrid human-and-plant ornaments of ancient Roman decorative art.
"The clown's anticks kept the entire audience roaring with laughter."
In modern usage this sense appears almost exclusively in the plural form "antics."
Grotesque, fantastic, or bizarre in appearance; playfully absurd in character.
"He wore an antick mask with a gaping mouth and bulging eyes."
Now archaic; found mainly in literature of the 16th–18th centuries.
As a countable noun denoting pranks or grotesque figures, "antick" takes the plural "anticks"; however, the modern standard spelling is "antics," which remains in common use for playful or absurd behavior.
"The monkeys' anticks delighted the visitors at the fair."
This word for wild pranks actually comes from Italian for "ancient" — Renaissance artists thought the grotesque monsters on Roman palace walls were so weird they named a whole style of absurdity after them.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of antick
"Antick" derives from Italian "antico," meaning "ancient," which in turn comes from Latin "antiquus." When Renaissance artists imitated the grotesque human-and-vegetation figures discovered in ancient Roman ruins, these designs were called "anticos" or "antique works," and English borrowed the term in the sixteenth century both for such figures and, by extension, for any ludicrous caper or prank. The spelling "antick" was common in early modern English before yielding to the modern form "antic." It shares its Latin root with words such as "antique" and "antiquity."
Related word forms
How antick is actually used
"Antick" is now chiefly of historical interest, appearing in literature of the 16th–18th centuries; modern writing uses "antic" instead. The plural "antics" remains fully current for playful or absurd behavior.
Easily confused with antick
"Antic" is the standard modern spelling of the same word; "antick" is an obsolete variant found mainly in older texts.
"Antique" refers to something genuinely old or from an earlier era, while "antick" denotes something grotesque, absurd, or playfully mischievous.