Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The final resolution or clarification of a dramatic or narrative plot.
- n. The events following the climax of a drama or novel in which such a resolution or clarification takes place.
- n. The outcome of a sequence of events; the end result.
Wiktionary
- n. alternative spelling of dénouement.
Etymologies
- French dénouement, from Old French desnouement, an untying, from desnouer, to undo : des-, de- + nouer, to tie (from Latin nōdāre, from nōdus, knot; see ned- in Indo-European roots). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“To allege that one romantic comedy stole from another because they both end with weddings would fail on the grounds that such a denouement is a scène à faire for romantic comedies.”
“The revelation in the mystery's denouement is so shocking and smart that the entire tale is turned upside down.”
“I concocted a whole list of factual statements about a supposed crime, rather in the way a detective might in the closing stages of a criminal investigation just before the denouement is reached, and decided to let the students solve the mystery.”
“For instance, when we read a detective novel, we have a different experience of the story before and after the denouement is reached.”
“I felt the final third could have gone on longer, it never really felt like the protagonist hit their lowest point before the action at the end and the denouement is hurried and confusing.”
“Some may be surprised at this choice, but I find that the novel captured youthful angst as well as any book I've read, and its explosive denouement is all the more impressive in these post-Columbine days.”
“Like much of the plot, this denouement is not clear in the film, from which Mr. Kubrick cut most of the expository material.”
Arthur C. Clarke, Premier Science Fiction Writer, Dies at 90 « Isegoria
“Its "longish denouement" is "corny and contrived, but we seize on it with relief - as we seize on the Mahleresque romanticism of Gabriel Yared's score.”
GreenCine Daily: The Lives of Others and The Decomposition of the Soul.
“That sad denouement is another symbol, standing for our defeat in the larger war of ideas.”
“The denouement is the perfect climax to a tale as refreshing as a month in the country-the country of Botswana.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘denouement’.
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GRE Barron's 800
abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abject, abjure, abscission, abscond, abstemious, abstinence, abysmal, accretion and 787 more...
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250 More Spelling Words
More words for intermediate and advanced spellers.
melisma, dioecious, jejunity, sialogogue, zingiber, zendik, dithyramb, pneuma, kachina, agiotage, baedeker, sabulous and 238 more...
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EN-HU - important words for a HU inte...
Words only (I left out the expressions) from Geza Kerenyi's EN-HU interpreters' dictionary. Most of them pose some difficulty when interpreted between HU and EN in either or both directions.
abalone, abrasive, abstractionist, abstruse, abysmal, academia, accessibility, accessible, acclimate, accolade, accompanist, achiever and 1469 more...
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Tricky To Spell or Pronounce
ply, stationary, stationery, monetize, finagle, cartilaginous, apposite, languor, douceur, Umwelt, faze, sequela and 13 more...
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Tricky Words from French
Loanwords from French -- both established and wet behind the ears -- that are tricky to spell or pronounce properly.
trompe l'oeil, hors d'oeuvre, oeuvre, objet d'art, objet trouvé, contretemps, milieu, métier, mise en scène, mise en place, éclat, faineant and 64 more...
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Good mouth feel words
just like it sounds
detritus, qua, denouement, translucent, obsequious, prismatic, Lanquidity, interestingness, dailiness, messily, liquefy, randomalia and 6 more...
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Fancy Foreign Words
de facto, Zeitgeist, schadenfreude, apropos, per se, Auteur, tookus, de rigueur, xyst, arrivederci, sotto, troika and 14 more...
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Remember Not To Forget
Sephardic, Umwelt, amphiboly, untrammeled, sequela, pandiculation, tensegrity, syncretism, pugilism, shemagh, disquisition, perspicacity and 61 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Fun fancy French words
Fun fancy French words to wield, impress and sound pretentious with
raison d etre, garçonnière, recherché, bisous, soigne, apercu, decharne, outre, oubliette, soi disant, mot juste, louche and 5 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1824 more...
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Les Misérables
A selection of words from the epic by Victor Hugo
perquisites, dispensations, execrate, spikenard, fireplaace, effeminate foppery, delaine, hoarfrost, lackadaisicalness, ort, geldings, milch and 103 more...
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ICE
quincunx, adoxography, panjundrum, breloque, surd, scripturient, rousant, favrile, embouchure, aquarelle, griffonage, sussultatory and 234 more...
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Need to Know!
elicit, educe, refute, cogency, churlish, martinet, veritable, polyglot, dissemble, histrionics, prevarication, verbiage and 166 more...
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word tank
a couple words
logolepsy, nefarious, quintessential, tintinnabulation, serendipity, rhapsody, palimpsest, panoply, mellifluous, imbue, loquacious, garrulous and 174 more...
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Good Words
fenestering, cetic, immanent, quickening, archetypal, shibboleth, soma, wetware, heritable, Apotheosis, halcyon, cellar door and 482 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for denouement.
shevek I think it is unfortunate that dénouement has only six citations, while the word without the accent has 65. Jun 6, 2008