adj ·5 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective

1. 1
   Lacking climax, disappointing or ironically insignificant following of impressive foreshadowing.

   "After all the build up, the ending of the story was an anticlimactic letdown."

Adjective

1. 1
   coming after the climax especially of a dramatic or narrative plot wordnet
2. 2
   of or relating to a sudden change from an impressive to a ludicrous style wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

anticlimactical

Antonyms

All antonyms

climactic

Example

More examples

"The first half of the movie was captivating, but the ending was anticlimactic."

Etymology

From anti- + climactic.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.