anticlimax

Noun

anticlimax (countable and uncountable, plural anticlimaxes)

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.1935 September 18, “The Two Dromios, Jim and Jouette”, in Columbia Daily Tribune, volume XXXV, number 5, Columbia, Mo., page six, column 1
   • Loving her physically would each time be a thrilling voyage without the anticlimax of arrival.1953, Ian Fleming, “Tide of Passion”, in Casino Royale, London: Pan Books, published 1955, page 167
2. An unsatisfying resolution to a narrative, usually owing to a deus ex machina or similarly trivial resolution of the main conflict.
3. (rhetoric) An abrupt descent (either deliberate or unintentional) from the dignity of the idea which the speaker or writer appeared to be aiming for.