anticlimactic
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of anticlimactic
Explanation
When something seems like it's going to be exciting but then it lets you down, that's anticlimactic. An anticlimactic fireworks display would be brief and boring, with subdued pops of muted sparkles. The Greek root of anticlimactic means "down a ladder," and that's exactly how it feels to experience something anticlimactic, as if you expected to go higher but you're suddenly near the bottom of the ladder. In a scary movie, as the hero moves closer to the creepy basement door while terrifying music plays, it will be a bit anticlimactic if the door swings open to reveal a mewing kitten.
Vocabulary lists containing anticlimactic
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: ant-, anti-
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Nickel and Dimed
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: ant, anti
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“There’s an anti-climactic aspect to it,” Weedbrook told Barron’s.
From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026
“He had a moment of joy and expressed that as best he could. But it was a little anti-climactic in a way because he’s in such bad shape,” Benjamin Gilmer said.
From Seattle Times • May 21, 2024
The result may seem anti-climactic, but the competition sheds light on where more vaccine research is needed.
From Science Daily • Mar. 14, 2024
The later scene of Barry’s own demise may play even more anti-climactic, but it involved another complex setup.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 31, 2023
Anything less than a World War would have appeared inconsequent, anti-climactic, to these two so closely concerned in the preliminary catastrophe, and yet so reticent that neither ever knew the other's wound.
From The Wrong Twin by Wilson, Harry Leon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
