Standard Lemma guide

Atticism

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈatɪsɪzm/

1

noun

Meaning 1

Attachment to, collaboration with, favouring of, or siding with Athens or Athenians, especially in the context of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 B.C.E.).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Qualifier: ancient history

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The prestige dialect of Classical Greek, as spoken and written by the inhabitants of Attica (chiefly Athens) in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E.; Attic Greek.

The enduring rhetorical movement, begun in the 1st century B.C.E., whose members strove to emulate the style of the best Attic orators of that Classical period; especially in contrast with Asianism or Hellenism. (Its leading early proponent, Dionysius of Halicarnassus [c. 60–p. 7 B.C.E.], identified Lysias [c. 445–380 B.C.E.] as “the perfect model of the Attic dialect”, whose virtues he enumerates to be “purity of language, correct dialect, the presentation of ideas by means of standard, not figurative expressions; clarity, brevity, concision, terseness, vivid representation..., the pleasing arrangement of words after the manner of ordinary speech..., charm and a sense of timing which regulates everything else”.)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, singular, singular-only, uncountable

Topics: history, human-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The prestige dialect of Classical Greek, as spoken and written by the inhabitants of Attica (chiefly Athens) in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E.; Attic Greek.

The enduring rhetorical movement, begun in the 1st century B.C.E., whose members strove to emulate the style of the best Attic orators of that Classical period; especially in contrast with Asianism or Hellenism. (Its leading early proponent, Dionysius of Halicarnassus [c. 60–p. 7 B.C.E.], identified Lysias [c. 445–380 B.C.E.] as “the perfect model of the Attic dialect”, whose virtues he enumerates to be “purity of language, correct dialect, the presentation of ideas by means of standard, not figurative expressions; clarity, brevity, concision, terseness, vivid representation..., the pleasing arrangement of words after the manner of ordinary speech..., charm and a sense of timing which regulates everything else”.)

The stylistic principles of Greek Atticism in application to other languages, especially to Latin.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, countable, dated, historical, singular, singular-only, uncountable

Topics: history, human-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The prestige dialect of Classical Greek, as spoken and written by the inhabitants of Attica (chiefly Athens) in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E.; Attic Greek.

An expression or idiom characteristic of or peculiar to Attic Greek, especially an elegant and refined, if grammatically irregular, usage.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, singular, singular-only

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

The prestige dialect of Classical Greek, as spoken and written by the inhabitants of Attica (chiefly Athens) in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E.; Attic Greek.

A refined felicity or well-turned phrase, especially one deemed ungrammatical. (In Newcome, aposiopesis, dislocation, and inverse attraction, respectively.)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, countable, singular, singular-only

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ᾰ̓ττῐκῐσμός (ăttĭkĭsmós). By surface analysis, Attic + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: attikismi — Greek rhetorical movement emulating Attic style
  • Esperanto: Atikismo — expression or idiom characteristic of Attic Greek
  • Polish: attycyzm — refined felicity or well-turned phrase, esp. ungrammatical