anticlimactic

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent-

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts

Proto-Indo-European *-i

Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti

Ancient Greek ᾰ̓ντῐ́ (ăntĭ́)

Ancient Greek ἀντι- (anti-)der.

English anti-

English climax

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Indo-European *-ikos

Proto-Italic *-ikos

Latin -icuslbor.

Old French -iquebor.

▲

Latin -icusbor.

Middle English -ik

English -ic

English climactic

English anticlimactic

From anti- + climactic.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Southern British) IPA^(key): /ˌantɪjklɑjˈmaktɪk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

anticlimactic (comparative more anticlimactic, superlative most anticlimactic)

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.

Derived terms

• anticlimactically

Related terms

• anticlimax

Translations

lacking climax

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 虎頭蛇尾的 / 虎头蛇尾的 (hǔtóushéwěi de)

• Dutch: anticlimactisch (nl)
• Finnish: antiklimaattinen (fi)
• French: décevant (fr), désenchanté (fr)
• Ido: deceptanta, deceptiva
• Japanese: 呆気ない (ja) (akkenai)
• Portuguese: anticlimático, decepcionante (pt)
• Russian: разочаро́вывающий (ru) m (razočaróvyvajuščij), не опра́вдывающий ожида́ний m (ne oprávdyvajuščij ožidánij)
• Spanish: anticlimático, decepcionante (es)