  We present optical observations of supernova (SN) 2014ek discovered during
the Tsinghua-NAOC Transient Survey (TNTS), which shows properties that are
consistent with those of SN 2002cx-like events (dubbed as SNe Iax). The
photometry indicates that it is underluminous compared to normal SNe Ia, with
the absolute $V$-band peak magnitude being as $-17.66\pm0.20$ mag. The spectra
are characterized by highly ionized Fe III and intermediate-mass elements
(IMEs). The expansion velocity of the ejecta is found to be $\sim$5000 km
s$^{-1}$ near the maximum light, only half of that measured for normal SNe Ia.
The overall spectral evolution is quite similar to SN 2002cx and SN 2005hk,
while the absorption features of the main IMEs seem to be relatively weaker.
The ${}^{56}$Ni mass synthesized in the explosion is estimated to be about 0.08
M$_{\odot}$ from the pseudo bolometric light curve. Based on a large sample of
SNe Iax, we examined the relations between peak luminosity, ejecta velocity,
decline rate, and peak $V - R$ color but did not find noticeable correlations
between these observables, in particular when a few extreme events like SN
2008ha are excluded in the analysis. For this sample, we also studied the
birthplace environments and confirm that they still hold the trend of occurring
preferentially in late-type spiral galaxies. Moreover, SNe Iax tend to occur in
large star-forming regions of their host galaxies, more similar to SNe Ibc than
SNe II, favoring that their progenitors should be associated with very young
stellar populations.
