Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use antic in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, noun, verb

Antic means playful, funny, absurd. Example: “I'm fed up with your constant antics in class. Please behave yourself!”

Examples of antic by meaning

adjectivePlayful, funny, absurd.

  • In recounting the story of Lenny and Eunice in his antic, supercaffeinated prose, Mr.2010 July 26, Michiko Kakutani, “Love Found Amid Ruins of Empire”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

adjectiveGrotesque, incongruous.

  • 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

nounA ludicrous gesture or act; ridiculous behaviour; caper.

  • I'm fed up with your constant antics in class. Please behave yourself!
  • I've 'ad about enough of you and your antics.1907, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “On Goat Island”, in The War in the Air: […], London: George Bell and Sons, published 1908, →OCLC, § 7...
  • Toad ceased his frivolous antics at once.1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC

nounA 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

verbTo perform antics, to caper.

  • Jerry no more than cocked a contemptuous quizzical eye at the mainsail anticking above him.1917 April, Jack London, chapter IV, in Jerry of the Islands, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, page 54

verbTo make a fool of, to cause to look ridiculous.

  • 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
  • Surtees became a friend of Walter Scott and played a very "anticking" joke upon the author.1982, The Picturesque Tour, page 25

verbTo 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

More sentences with antic

  • I thought you said you were above these kinds of antics.From the entry above
  • We dined seaside and watched the gulls' antics.From the entry seaside
  • She was much amused with their antics.From the entry amused
  • He watched the little dog's antics with a humorless stare.From the entry humorless
  • We dined oceanside and watched the gulls' antics.From the entry oceanside
  • You needn't pay heed to his antics.From the entry pay heed
  • The cheesy antics had everyone giggling.From the entry cheesy
  • I had it with your antics!From the entry had it
  • He seethed about being the butt of anti-Harvard antics by the golden boy traders.2021, Eleanor Randolph, The Many Lives of Michael Bloomberg, page 37. From the entry Harvard
  • When we say a person ‘chut pattern’, it talks about someone full of antics.2015, DanielFoodDiary.com, [blog entry]. From the entry chut pattern
  • Jones is a pop-culture phenom whose bold antics, outlandish personality, and dazzling looks defied all norms.2013, Ytasha L. Womack, Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture, →ISBN, page 105. From the entry phenom
  • Before long, the brothers were outbesting each other, recanting their childhood antics until Drake relaxed.2013, Pat Simmons, Her Dress. From the entry outbest
  • Fans across the globe from Franklin Roosevelt to Mussolini applauded his antics in the films that followed.2007, Todd G. Buchholz, New ideas from dead CEOs. From the entry Mickeymania
  • He liked to see them laughing, enjoying themselves, squizzing at the antics of whitefellers in party mood.1998, Patricia Shaw, A Cross of Stars, published 2011, unnumbered page. From the entry squizz
  • Finally, we all followed the turbulent antics of Hollywood's favorite couple, Tom and Roseanne.1994 May 27, Jorge Garcia, “Signing off: not your typical year-in-review”, in Josh Romonek, editor, Daily Bruin, volume 82, number 132…. From the entry electric boogaloo
  • Many persons were interested in the antics of a well-dressed brunette on the Bowery last night.1901, The Duluth Evening Herald, A Bouncing Brunette. Two Harbors Female Gets Into Tronble.^([sic]), page 2, column 3. From the entry acrobatess
  • It’s so unoriginal it bores me and how, more than disappointment or sorrow at humanity’s antics, it must bore God.2008, Tibor Fischer, Good to Be God, Richmond, London: Alma Books, →ISBN, page 106. From the entry borrowable
  • Then of course came the antics of Tom Cruise.2006 June 16, Nec_V20, “OCMB "ROC" (or FAQ) is a crock”, in alt.religion.scientology (Usenet), archived from the original on 08 Dec 2025. From the entry September which never ended
  • Catatonia could always count on a place in the gossip columns, too, thanks to the lagered-up antics of their boisterous lead-singer-about-town.2003, Peter Buckley, The Rough Guide to Rock. From the entry lagered up
  • I heard all about the antisplenetic antics of your brother.2002, Rick Harsch, The sleep of Aborigines, page 45. From the entry antisplenetic
  • Along with them came a man of the village known for his humorous antics; he was called the chic.2001, Victoria Schlesinger, Animals and Plants of the Ancient Maya: A Guide, 2nd paperback edition, Austin: University of Texas Press…. From the entry chic
  • In my day we did it all in one take, with no chance of covering up embarrassing fluffs or other antics.2001 March 20, Stephen, “Linham Strikes Again”, in uk.media.radio.archers (Usenet). From the entry continued page 94
  • 'BF' is more ambiguous, with 'Best Friend' unlikely after Susan Douglas has read through the antics of the heroine Susan Street.1996, Francis Wheen, Lord Gnome's Literary Companion. From the entry Burchillian
  • She understands my moviegoing but in her own antic fashion.1961, Walker Percy, chapter 1, in The Moviegoer, New York, N.Y.: Popular Library, published 1962, →OCLC, section 7, page 61. From the entry moviegoing
  • Robert at once performed the strangulated antics of one arising.1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, →OCLC, page 8. From the entry strangulated
  • She would base a flyer in a double balance and make the audience laugh with her clowning antics for two more shows.2005, John T. Warren, Laura B. Lengel, Casting Gender: Women and Performance in Intercultural Context, →ISBN, page 73. From the entry base
  • Perhaps watching the antics of TomKat, Brangelina, Vaughniston and LaLohan is our way of reverting to the world of high school drama.2005 October 27, Rebecca Silver, “Pardon the 'Vanity Fair'”, in The Daily Princetonian, Princeton University. From the entry Vaughniston
  • I was angry with my bubble-brained antics and my waddlesome sloth, with my guides, with the thunder, with this stupid maze of rocks.2001, The Way of the Wanderer: Discover Your True Self Through Travel. From the entry bubble-brained
  • Cyberfolks are already hip to the antics of Dancing Baby — the slightly demonic, diapered dudelet who's been boogalooing all over the Web for months.1998, Newsweek - Volume 131. From the entry dudelet
  • It lies beyond the red, white, and blue multi-media antics within Madison Square Garden or before the fawning and yammering of press legions.1992, George Grant, Hillarious: The Wacky Wit, Wisdom, and Wonderment of Hillary Rodham-Clinton, Franklin, Tenn.: Adroit Press, →ISBN…. From the entry mom and apple pie

Meaning of antic

  1. adjective Playful, funny, absurd.
  2. adjective Grotesque, incongruous.
  3. adjective Grotesque, bizarre.

Full definition of antic

Questions about antic in a sentence

How do you use antic in a sentence?
Antic is used as an adjective, noun and verb. For example: “I'm fed up with your constant antics in class. Please behave yourself!”
What is a short sentence with antic?
“I had it with your antics!”
What does antic mean?
Antic means playful, funny, absurd.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: antic (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use antic in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/antic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.