anticlimax

2 definitions found

anticlimax - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  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.
           [1913 Webster]

anticlimax - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  anticlimax
      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]