Word Direct Answers

What does "antic" mean?

Antic: Odd; fantastic; fanciful; grotesque; ludicrous. The antic postures of a merry-andrew. Addison. The Saxons . . . worshiped many idols, barbarous in name, some monstrous, all antic for shape. Fuller.

Additional senses

  1. 2.A buffoon or merry-andrew; one that practices odd gesticulations; the Fool of the old play.
  2. 3.An odd imagery, device, or tracery; a fantastic figure. Woven with antics and wild imagery. Spenser.
  3. 4.A grotesque trick; a piece of buffoonery; a caper. And fraught with antics as the Indian bird That writhes and chatters in her wiry cage. Wordsworth.
  4. 5.(Arch.) A grotesque representation. [Obs.]
  5. 6.An antimask. [Obs. or R.] Performed by knights and ladies of his court In nature of an antic. Ford.
  6. 7.To make appear like a buffoon. [Obs.] Shak.
  7. 8.To perform antics.

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