anticlimax

noun

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 English anticlimax From anti- + climax.

1. A failed or reverse climax, particularly

   “Reed, Superba of yore, made a gallant effort to summon the Promethean fire that once burned within him when it was his “listening senates to command,” but his vaunted perorations proved anticlimaces and his oratory a flop.”

   “If the siege of Boston seemed to end in anticlimax, with the sudden retreat of British military forces, the siege of New York City seen from the inside, from under siege, seemed infinitely more portentous: “The Day is Come that in all Probility on which Depends the Salvation of this Countery.””

2. A failed or reverse climax
3. A failed or reverse climax