Meanings
nounantipattern (plural antipatterns)
plural antipatterns · alternative anti-pattern
- computingA design pattern that may be commonly used, but is ineffective or counterproductive in practice.
If a Design Pattern gives you a general solution to a recurring problem in a particular context, then what does an anti-pattern give you? An Anti-Pattern tells you how to go from a problem to a BAD solution.
2004, Eric Freeman, Elisabeth Robson, Bert Bates, Kathy Sierra, Head First Design Patterns, O'Reilly, →ISBN, page 612
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Origin
From anti- + pattern, coined by Andrew Koenig in 1995.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish antisuunnittelumalli
- antisuunnittelumallia design pattern that may be commonly used, but is ineffective or counterproductive in practice
German Antimuster, Anti-Pattern
- Antimustera design pattern that may be commonly used, but is ineffective or counterproductive in practice
- Anti-Patterna design pattern that may be commonly used, but is ineffective or counterproductive in practice
Hungarian antiminta, ellenminta
- antimintaa design pattern that may be commonly used, but is ineffective or counterproductive in practice
- ellenmintaa design pattern that may be commonly used, but is ineffective or counterproductive in practice
Japanese アンチパターン
- アンチパターン (anchipatān)a design pattern that may be commonly used, but is ineffective or counterproductive in practice
Polish antywzorzec
- antywzorzeca design pattern that may be commonly used, but is ineffective or counterproductive in practice
Portuguese antipadrão
- antipadrãoa design pattern that may be commonly used, but is ineffective or counterproductive in practice
Russian антипатте́рн
- антипатте́рн (antipattérn)a design pattern that may be commonly used, but is ineffective or counterproductive in practice
Swedish antimönster
- antimönstera design pattern that may be commonly used, but is ineffective or counterproductive in practice
Cite this entry
APA
antipattern. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antipattern
MLA
“antipattern.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antipattern. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “antipattern,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antipattern.
Source: antipattern on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.