Etymology

anticlimactic

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Today it means: Lacking climax, disappointing or ironically insignificant following of impressive foreshadowing. Full definition →

English climactic ← Ancient Greek ἀντι- (anti-) ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ent-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énts
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énti
  4. Ancient Greekᾰ̓ντῐ́ (ăntĭ́)
  5. Ancient Greekἀντι- (anti-)
  6. Englishanti-
  7. Englishclimax
  8. Englishclimactic
  9. English todayanticlimactic

From anti- + climactic.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.