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• denouement
  denouement

  noun

  the final resolution of the intricacies of a plot, as of a drama or novel.
• dénouement
  dénouement

  The solution or outcome of the plot of a play or novel: “In the dénouement of many tragedies, the main character dies.”

denouement

American  

[dey-noo-mahn] / ˌdeɪ nuˈmɑ̃ /

Or dénouement

noun

• denouements
  plural

1. the final resolution of the intricacies of a plot, as of a drama or novel.

2. the place in the plot at which this occurs.

3. the outcome or resolution of a doubtful series of occurrences.

   Synonyms:

   upshot, end, conclusion, solution

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denouement British  

/ deɪˈnuːmɒn, denumɑ̃ /

noun

1. 1. the final clarification or resolution of a plot in a play or other work

   2. the point at which this occurs

2. final outcome; solution

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dénouement Cultural  

1. The solution or outcome of the plot of a play or novel: “In the dénouement of many tragedies, the main character dies.”

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• denouements
  plural

Etymology

Origin of denouement

First recorded in 1745–55; from French: literally, “an untying,” equivalent to dénouer “to untie,” Old French desnoer ( des- + noer “to knot,” from Latin nōdāre, derivative of nōdus “knot”) + -ment; see de-, -ment

Explanation

You know that part of every movie after the big action scene, where things get explained, and the characters tie up loose ends? That's called the denouement, or the showing of how the plot eventually turns out. Denouement is a French word that literally means the action of untying, from a verb meaning to untie. The English word is pronounced like the French: day-noo-MON. The last syllable has a nasalized vowel instead of the n sound. You can use it outside the context of plays or novels, too: you might describe the denouement of an argument between two friends.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

denouement dénouement denouements

Hundreds of intellectuals and others have signed letters and online petitions expressing fears of a disastrous denouement: the collection’s prolonged — and possible permanent — absence from Mexico.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

But that denouement is but a footnote to their much more significant collaboration in the years of the American crisis.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

But the absence of warmth in the performance robs the denouement of a portion of its awful pathos.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026

Rangers have a leadership deficit that has cost them their place in the denouement, they have a weakness at their heart that caught up with them in the end.

From BBC ● May 10, 2026

Even Ernest seemed terrified of the plan’s inevitable denouement.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

That brings us to the present, and the impending sour dénouement to the calamitous 28 points.

From Slate ● Nov. 24, 2025

The ascendancy of Ely’s argument reached its dénouement in the early 1990s.

From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2023

There's no way to judge or measure the probability of such a dreaded dénouement now.

From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2023

For example, the dénouement, while presenting a horrific situation, doesn’t fill the viewer with dread.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2021

I was explaining the dénouement when Cloke Rayburn abruptly shouldered through the crowd.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Yet despite a number of similarities, including mistakes made and disastrous denouements that spelled defeat for the U.S., each conflict had entirely different impacts on U.S. society, culture and politics.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2022

He was a student of the Tom Wolfe school of writing and favored stories with deeper meaning and surprising denouements.

From Golf Digest ● Apr. 14, 2020

It has survived the unhappy denouements of his last three jobs: at Real Madrid, a return to Chelsea, and then United, three clubs at which he lost first his players’ faith and then control.

From New York Times ● Nov. 20, 2019

From the start Martin’s books diametrically opposed the sort of neat denouements C.S.

From Salon ● Apr. 14, 2019

Observe also how Bierce can attain the most stirring denouements from a few simple happenings; denouements which develop purely from these preceding circumstances.

From Writings in the United Amateur, 1915-1922 by H. P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft

Related Words

• climax
• culmination
• finale