anticlimax

American  

[an-ti-klahy-maks] / ˌæn tɪˈklaɪ mæks /

noun

1. an event, conclusion, statement, etc., that is far less important, powerful, or striking than expected.

2. a descent in power, quality, dignity, etc.; a disappointing, weak, or inglorious conclusion.

   After serving as president, he may find life in retirement an anticlimax.

3. a noticeable or ludicrous descent from lofty ideas or expressions to banalities or commonplace remarks.

   We were amused by the anticlimax of the company's motto: “For God, for country, and for Acme Gasworks.”

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anticlimax British  

/ ˌæntɪklaɪˈmæktɪk, ˌæntɪˈklaɪmæks /

noun

1. a disappointing or ineffective conclusion to a series of events, etc

2. a sudden change from a serious subject to one that is disappointing or ludicrous

3. rhetoric a descent in discourse from the significant or important to the trivial, inconsequential, etc

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Other Word Forms

• anticlimactic
  adjective
• anticlimactically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of anticlimax

First recorded in 1720–30; anti- + climax

Explanation

If you think you’re approaching the high point, but then realize it’s really the low point, that’s an anticlimax — a moment when excitement quickly changes to disappointment. In a movie or book, a climax is the point where, after a long buildup, everything gets really intense and dramatic. But if there’s a lot of buildup and then suddenly something really boring happens, that’s an anticlimax. Like waiting all day to see fireworks, but then nobody has any matches. It can also mean discussing something important like war or art, and then someone interrupts to talk about candy. Talk about a letdown.

Example Sentences

Anticlimax: How did the World Cup become a venue for the best players in the world to play weeks of subpar soccer?

From Slate • Jun. 12, 2018

After drilling 14 dry holes, Exxon, Shell and three other producers pulled out their rigs, and oilmen now refer to that ill-fated venture as "the Destin Anticlimax."

From Time Magazine Archive

Anticlimax, an-ti-klīm′aks, n. the opposite of climax: a sentence in which the ideas become less important towards the close: also of any descent as against a previous rise—e.g.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

It is from the same unweigh'd Redundancy, and Misapplication of Words, that we so often find this excellent Writer falling into the Anticlimax.

From 'Of Genius', in The Occasional Paper, and Preface to The Creation by Pahl, Gretchen Graf

Thus we see that the phenomena of Climax, Antithesis, and Anticlimax, alike result from this general principle.

From The Philosophy of Style by Spencer, Herbert

Related Words

• letdown