: 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
Example Sentences
The last chapter of the book was an anticlimax. The movie ended in anticlimax.
Recent Examples on the WebAfter all this, arriving in Key West was at first an anticlimax. Tony Perrottet, WSJ, 15 Aug. 2022 After that, the Best Picture prize was an anticlimax, even with the appearance of Liza Minnelli, who presented the award with Lady Gaga. Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2022 But, as anyone who has given up on a goal that went from enrapturing to anxiety-inducing too fast, or felt the anticlimax of reaching a goal that required a great deal of sacrifice to achieve can attest, this is not an easy balance to strike.Outside Online, 8 Jan. 2021 Certain columnists lamented the men’s 100 as a disappointing anticlimax. Martin Fritz Huber, Outside Online, 10 Aug. 2021 In many ways Dole’s general-election campaign was an anticlimax to the greater dramas of his life. David M. Shribman, Los Angeles Times, 5 Dec. 2021 When the safes finally open like magic industrial machines, the sight of millions of dollars piled inside is actually an anticlimax. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 26 Oct. 2021 Obviously, another book at this time about exactly the same subject would be a sad anticlimax. Ed Vulliamy, The New York Review of Books, 19 Aug. 2021 The fireworks display that followed the performance almost seemed like an anticlimax to such an acoustically thrilling evening. George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Aug. 2021 See More