Adjacent Words

Anticlimax definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ANTICLI'MAX, n. [Gr. opposite, and climax. See Climate.]
A sentence in which the ideas fall or become less important and striking at the close; opposed to climax. For example,
Next comes Dalhousie, the great God of war,
Lieutenant Col'nel to the Earl of Mar.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a disappointing decline after a previous rise; "the anticlimax of a brilliant career"
2: a change from a serious subject to a disappointing one [syn: anticlimax, bathos]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1710 1. the usually sudden transition in discourse from a significant idea to a trivial or ludicrous idea; also an instance of this transition 2. an event, period, or outcome that is strikingly less important or dramatic than expected

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a trivial conclusion to something significant or impressive, esp. where a climax was expected. Derivatives: anticlimactic adj. anticlimactically adv.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Anticlimax An`ti*cli"max, n. (Rhet.) A sentence in which the ideas fall, or become less important and striking, at the close; -- the opposite of climax. It produces a ridiculous effect. Note: Example: Next comes Dalhousie, the great god of war, Lieutenant-colonel to the Earl of Mar.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(anticlimaxes) You can describe something as an anticlimax if it disappoints you because it happens after something that was very exciting, or because it is not as exciting as you expected. Barry's speech followed Dirk Bogarde's appearance, and was an inevitable anticlimax... = disappointment N-VAR

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Bathos.