Antic or antique?
antic is an adjective meaning “Playful, funny, absurd”; antique is an adjective meaning “Having existed in ancient times, descended from antiquity; used especially in…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) antique is about 34 times as common as antic.
What is the difference between antic and antique?
| antic | antique | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, noun, verb | adjective, noun, verb |
| Meaning | Playful, funny, absurd Grotesque, incongruous A caricature | Having existed in ancient times, descended from antiquity; used especially in reference to Greece and Rome Belonging to former times, not modern, out of date, old-fashioned An old object perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance |
| Example | I'm fed up with your constant antics in class. Please behave yourself! | none recorded |
| Forms | none | antiquer, antiquest |
| Pronunciation | /ˈæn.tɪk/ | /ˌanˈtiːk/ /ˌænˈtik/ /ˌænˈtiːk/ |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words | 7.2 times per million words |
Sources: antic and antique in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of antic and antique
antic
- 1
Playful, funny, absurd
- 2
A caricature
- 3
To perform antics, to caper
- 4
A pose, often exaggerated, in anticipation of an action; for example, a brief squat before jumping
- 5
Grotesque, incongruous
- 6
A ludicrous gesture or act; ridiculous behaviour; caper
I'm fed up with your constant antics in class. Please behave yourself!
- 7
A grotesque performer or clown, buffoon
antique
- 1
Having existed in ancient times, descended from antiquity; used especially in reference to Greece and Rome
- 2
An old object perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance
- 3
To search or shop for antiques
- 4
Belonging to former times, not modern, out of date, old-fashioned
- 5
An object of ancient times
- 6
To make (an object) appear to be an antique in some way
- 7
Designating a style of type
- 8
The style or manner of ancient times, used especially of Greek and Roman art
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, antic or antique?
antic appears about once in every 5 million words; antique 7.2 times per million words.
antic about once in every 5 million wordsantique 7.2 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).