antic
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: ăn'tĭk
ipa: /ˈæn.tɪk/
rhymes: -æntɪk
Forms: form: more antic
form: most antic
form: antick
Etymology: Probably from Italian antico (“ancient”), used to describe ancient wall paintings from classical times, from Latin antiquus (“venerable”). See also grottesco (“grotesque”). Doublet of antique.
Senses: examples: text: My men like Satyres grazing on the lawnes,
Shall with their Goate feete daunce an antick hay,
ref: 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):
text: 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.
ref: 2010 July 26, Michiko Kakutani, “Love Found Amid Ruins of Empire”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
glosses: Playful, funny, absurd.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 2004, John Chase, Glitter Stucco and Dumpster Diving: Reflections on Building Production in the Vernacular city, page 58:
topics: architecture
art
arts
glosses: Grotesque, incongruous.
examples: text: Fetch me my Rapier Boy, what dares the ſlaue / Come hither, couer'd with an antique face, / To fleere and ſcorne at our Solemnitie?
ref: 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:
text: […] 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.
ref: 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:
text: […]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.
ref: 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:
glosses: Grotesque, bizarre
glosses: Obsolete form of antique.
Related terms: sense: terms related to antic (adjective)
word: ancient
sense: terms related to antic (adjective)
word: Antiqua
sense: terms related to antic (adjective)
word: antiquarian
sense: terms related to antic (adjective)
word: antiquary
sense: terms related to antic (adjective)
word: antiquated
sense: terms related to antic (adjective)
word: antique
sense: terms related to antic (adjective)
word: antiquity