antic vs operant

antic

noun
  • A grotesque performer or clown, buffoon. 

  • A pose, often exaggerated, in anticipation of an action; for example, a brief squat before jumping 

  • A caricature. 

  • A ludicrous gesture or act; ridiculous behaviour; caper. 

adj
  • Playful, funny, absurd. 

  • Grotesque, incongruous. 

verb
  • To perform (an action) as an antic; to mimic ridiculously. 

  • To perform antics, to caper. 

operant

noun
  • An operative person or thing. 

  • Any of a class of behaviors that produce consequences by operating (i.e., acting) upon the environment. 

adj
  • That operates to produce an effect. 

How often have the words antic and operant occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )