anticlimax

noun

an·​ti·​cli·​max

ˌan-tē-ˈklī-ˌmaks,

ˌan-ˌtī- 

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

Examples of anticlimax in a Sentence

The last chapter of the book was an anticlimax.

The movie ended in anticlimax.

Recent Examples on the Web

Or: How come there’s always this air pocket of anticlimax after the wrestler’s entrance music stops? —James Parker, The Atlantic, 6 July 2025

Not that anyone really said that in the two-and-a-half-hour community-board meeting, which ended — unsurprisingly — in an anticlimax. —Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 11 June 2025

Any hunting after my kill was sort of an anticlimax. —Bill Thomas, Outdoor Life, 24 Apr. 2025

After months of high-profile proceedings in the lower courts – at one point the medication, mifepristone, was almost pulled from the market entirely – the case ended in a judicial anticlimax. —Sophie Hills, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1696, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for anticlimax

• counterattacks
• hemothorax
• mesothorax
• metathorax
• pneumothorax
• almanacs
• carrybacks
• haversacks
• lumberjacks
• maniacs
• microcracks
• minimax

Kids Definition

anticlimax

noun

an·​ti·​cli·​max ˌant-i-ˈklī-ˌmaks 

1

: a shift in writing or speaking from an important idea to an unimportant or silly one

2

: an event, result, or ending that is strikingly less important than expected

anticlimactic

-klī-ˈmak-tik

-klə-

adjective