Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun See antimask.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A comic or grotesque dance presented before or between the acts of a masque.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

anti- +‎ masque

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Examples

  • An antimasque of reapers and nymphs dances a graceful dance.

    Shakespeare Bevington, David 2002

  • But under James I stage witches remained figures of irrational stupidity — as in Ben Jonson's antimasque to The Masque of Queens, where the witches represented "Ignorance, Credulity, &c, the opposites to good Fame."

    Bothered and Bewildered Lurie, Alison 1997

  • But Jonson gave dramatic value to the masque, especially in his invention of the antimasque, a comedy or farcical element of relief, entrusted to professional players or dancers.

    Every Man in His Humor Ben Jonson 1605

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