comix

plural noun

com·​ix ˈkä-miks How to pronounce comix (audio)
: comic books or comic strips

Did you know?

Comix (which are typically understood as distinct from comics in that they intend a mature audience) got their start in the 1960s. Our earliest evidence of the word comix used as a generic term dates to 1969, but it had begun appearing in the titles of specific works a little earlier than that: one example is the title of R. Crumb's highly influential Zap Comix, first published in 1968. The kind of alteration that changed "comics" to "comix" isn't a 20th century phenomenon: the word pox, as in "chicken pox," began as "pocks" but has been spelled with an "x" since around 1475. A similar kind of alteration, though in this case going from a simpler spelling to a less intuitive one, is the word phat, which is most likely a variation of "fat." "Phat" dates to 1963.

Examples of comix in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Justin Green, a Chicago native whose early underground comix of the 1960s and 1970s influenced several generations of artists to adapt their most painful personal experiences into comics, died recently. Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2022 As one of the few Black cartoonists working in San Francisco’s underground comix movement, Fuller created a story that featured one of the first Black superhero characters in a comic: Ebon. Danielle Broadway, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2022

Word History

Etymology

alteration of comics

First Known Use

1972, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of comix was in 1972

Podcast

Dictionary Entries Near comix

Cite this Entry

“Comix.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comix. Accessed 14 Nov. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!