sophomoronic antic

9.9

A childish, silly action done to be funny but that shows bad judgment

noun
/ˌsɑːfəˈmɔːrənɪk ˈæntɪk/

: payasada

The teacher was unimpressed by his sophomoronic antic during the assembly.

Examples

Their constant sophomoronic antics made it hard for the group to focus on the project.
His latest sophomoronic antic made everyone laugh.
She apologized for her sophomoronic antics at the party last night.
Why did you pull such a sophomoronic antic in class?
She regretted her sophomoronic antics that caused a scene at the party.
The audience groaned at his sophomoronic antic during the serious presentation.
Her sophomoronic antics often distracted the team from their important tasks.

Synonyms

antic

vssophomoronic antic

1 5.6

Funny, silly actions people do to make others laugh

describes foolish immature behaviour seen as childish and often criticized

How Immature

sophomoronic antic

9.9

antic

1 5.6

prank

Informal

228 3.2

Surface Forms

sophomoronic antic singular

sophomoronic antics plural

Morphology

sophomoronic + antic

If a learner knows the constituents, the meaning is directly compositional: 'sophomoronic' (relating to a sophomore; by extension immature/juvenile) combined with 'antic' (a silly or playful act) yields an immature or foolish action. Although 'sophomoronic' is a less common form (cf. 'sophomoric'), the semantic contribution is clear and predictable, so a learner familiar with both words would readily infer the phrase's meaning.

Etymology

Sophomoronic antic comes from the idea of a 'sophomore', a second-year student who may act like they know everything but is still childish, and an antic is a silly, showy action. So, the phrase now means 'an immature or foolish action'.