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Anticlimax vs. Climax — What's the Difference?

Anticlimax vs. Climax — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Anticlimax and Climax

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Anticlimax

A decline viewed in disappointing contrast with a previous rise
The anticlimax of a brilliant career.

Climax

The point of greatest intensity or force in an ascending series or progression; a culmination.

Anticlimax

Something trivial or commonplace that concludes a series of significant events
After a week of dramatic negotiations, all that followed was anticlimax.

Climax

A series of statements or ideas in an ascending order of rhetorical force or intensity.

Anticlimax

A sudden change in speaking or writing from the impressive or significant to the ludicrous or inconsequential, or an instance of this, as in "He has seen the ravages of war, he has known natural catastrophes, he has been to singles bars" (Woody Allen).
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Climax

The final statement in such a series.

Anticlimax

A failed or reverse climax, particularly:

Climax

A moment of great or culminating intensity in a narrative or drama, especially the conclusion of a crisis.

Anticlimax

(narratology) An unsatisfying resolution to a narrative, usually owing to a deus ex machina or similarly trivial resolution of the main conflict.

Climax

The turning point in a plot or dramatic action.

Anticlimax

(rhetoric) An abrupt descent (either deliberate or unintentional) from the dignity of the idea which the speaker or writer appeared to be aiming for.

Climax

See orgasm.

Anticlimax

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.
Next comes Dalhousie, the great god of war,Lieutenant-colonel to the Earl of Mar.

Climax

(Ecology) A climax community.

Anticlimax

A disappointing decline after ad previous rise;
The anticlimax of a brilliant career

Climax

To bring to or reach a climax.

Anticlimax

A change from a serious subject to a disappointing one

Climax

A rhetorical device in which a series is arranged in ascending order.

Climax

(obsolete) An instance of such an ascending series.

Climax

(narratology) The culmination of a narrative's rising action, the turning point.

Climax

A culmination or acme: the last term in an ascending series, particularly:

Climax

The final term of a rhetorical climax.

Climax

(ecology) The culmination of ecological development, whereby species are in equilibrium with their environment.

Climax

(euphemistic) The culmination of sexual pleasure, an orgasm.

Climax

(ambitransitive) To reach or bring to a climax (in any sense).

Climax

Upward movement; steady increase; gradation; ascent.

Climax

A figure in which the parts of a sentence or paragraph are so arranged that each succeeding one rises above its predecessor in impressiveness.
"Tribulation worketh patience, patience experience, and experience hope" - a happy climax.

Climax

The highest point; the greatest degree.
We must look higher for the climax of earthly good.

Climax

The highest point of anything conceived of as growing or developing or unfolding;
The climax of the artist's career
In the flood tide of his success

Climax

The decisive moment in a novel or play;
The deathbed scene is the climax of the play

Climax

The moment of most intense pleasure in sexual intercourse

Climax

The most severe stage of a disease

Climax

Arrangement of clauses in ascending order of forcefulness

Climax

End, especially to reach a final or climactic stage;
The meeting culminated in a tearful embrace

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