bathos

[underused]

bathos

n. (especially in a literary work) an effect of anticlimax created by an unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to the trivial or ridiculous

‘To Swan's credit, she deftly skirts sentimentality; there is plenty of sentiment, but no bathos.’

---

Synonymous with disillusionment, this word reminds me of the ends of books and films where I walk away thinking, "Ugh, they had me right up to that last bit."

To be fair, writing a good ending is hard.