To act in a clownish, silly, or playfully exaggerated manner; to behave like an antick or foolish character.
From antick (archaic variant of antic) + -ize (to make or become). 'Antic' comes from Italian 'antico' (ancient), originally referring to grotesque figures in ancient Roman art, which people found absurdly funny.
Shakespeare used 'antic' to describe ridiculous behavior, and this verb keeps that theatrical spirit alive—it's what you're doing when you clown around and make people laugh by being deliberately silly.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.