n.

1. A decline viewed in disappointing contrast with a previous rise: the anticlimax of a brilliant career.
2. Something trivial or commonplace that concludes a series of significant events: After a week of dramatic negotiations, all that followed was anticlimax.
3. A sudden descent in speaking or writing from the impressive or significant to the ludicrous or inconsequential, or an instance of it: “Waggish non-Yale men never seem weary of calling ‘for God, for Country and for Yale’ the outstanding single anticlimax in the English language” (Time).

anticlimactic an'ti·cli·mac'tic (-klī-măk'tĭk) adj.
anticlimactically an'ti·cli·mac'ti·cal·ly adv.

n

Definition: ineffective conclusion
Antonyms: climax

---

anticlimax, an abrupt lapse from growing intensity to triviality in any passage of dramatic, narrative, or descriptive writing, with the effect of disappointed expectation or deflated suspense. Where the effect is unintentionally feeble or ridiculous it is known as bathos; but anticlimactic descent from the sublime to the ludicrous can also be used deliberately for comic effect. Byron employs comic anticlimax repeatedly in Don Juan, as in these lines from Canto II (1819), which describe the survivors of a shipwreck:

Though every wave roll'd menacing to fill,
And present peril all before surpass'd,
They grieved for those who perished with the cutter
And also for the biscuit‐casks and butter.

The intentional use of elevated language to describe the trivial or commonplace, or a sudden transition from a significant thought to a trivial one in order to achieve a humorous or satiric effect.

IN BRIEF: A decrease in the importance of an event or saying.

The movie was great until it reached a disappointing anticlimax.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - antiklimaks

Nederlands (Dutch)
anticlimax, teleurstelling

Français (French)
n. - déception, douche froide, retombée, chute (dans le trivial)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Antiklimax

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - αντικλίμακα, απότομη πτώση, ξεθύμασμα, απογοητευτική εξέλιξη

Italiano (Italian)
delusione, doccia fredda

Português (Portuguese)
n. - anticlímax (m) (f)

Русский (Russian)
разочарование, спад, разрядка

Español (Spanish)
n. - decepción, desengaño

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - antiklimax, bakslag

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
突降法, 令人扫兴的结尾, 虎头蛇尾

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 突降法, 令人掃興的結尾, 虎頭蛇尾

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 점강법

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 漸降法, 竜頭蛇尾

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) هبوط مفاجي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮סיום לא מרשים לדבר שהיו ממנו ציפיות רבות, נפילה, ההר הוליד עכבר‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.