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-ic and -ical

Many adjectives end in -ic or -ical. There is no general rule to tell you which form is correct in a particular case.

Some adjectives normally ending in -ic​

  • academic
  • algebraic
  • arithmetic
  • artistic
  • athletic
  • catholic
  • despotic
  • domestic
  • dramatic
  • egoistic
  • emphatic
  • energetic
  • fantastic
  • geometric
  • linguistic
  • majestic
  • neurotic
  • pathetic
  • pedagogic
  • pedantic
  • phonetic
  • public
  • semantic
  • strategic
  • syntactic
  • systematic
  • tragic

Arithmetical, geometrical and pedagogical also occur.

Some of these words ended in -ical in older English (e.g. fantastical, majestical, tragical).

New adjectives which come into the language generally end in -ic, except for those ending in -logical.

Some adjectives ending in -ical​

  • biological (and many other adjectives ending in -logical)
  • chemical
  • critical
  • cynical
  • fanatical
  • grammatical
  • logical
  • mathematical
  • mechanical
  • medical
  • musical
  • physical
  • radical
  • surgical
  • tactical
  • topical
  • typical
  • tyrannical

Differences of meaning​

Rhythmic and rhythmical both exist with no difference of meaning. In a few other cases, both forms exist but with a meaning difference. See Word problems from A to Z for classic(al), comic(al), economic(al), electric(al), historic(al), magic(al) and politic(al).

Adverbs​

Note that whether the adjective ends in -ic or -ical, the adverb ends in -ically*(pronounced /ɪkli/). The one common exception is publicly*(not publically).

Nouns ending in -ics​

Many nouns ending in -ics are singular (e.g. physics, athletics). Some can be either singular or plural (e.g. mathematics, politics). For details, (see here).