'anticlassicalism' originates from Modern English, specifically formed by combining the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti-' meaning 'against') and the noun 'classicalism' (from 'classical').

'anticlassicalism' changed from the compound 'anti-' + 'classicalism'; 'classical' derives from Latin 'classicus' (via French 'classique' and Middle English 'classical'), and the noun-forming suffix '-ism' produced 'classicalism' before the Modern English compound 'anticlassicalism' appeared in discourse opposing classical doctrines.

Initially the elements meant 'against' and 'pertaining to the classical'; over time the compound came to specifically denote an ideological or aesthetic opposition to classicalism in arts, literature, music, or philosophy.