Catacosmesis is the Greek word for "to set in order". In rhetoric, it refers to a device in which there is a descending order of words or phrases, either in order of importance, dignity or time, and either abrupt or gradual. It is considered to be synonymous with anticlimax. The opposite of catacosmesis is auxesis when used to refer to climax, wherein a series of clauses has increasing, rather than decreasing, force. Catacosmesis is distinct from bathos because the former is a relative term, requiring that a phrase or word is proceeded by something greater in dignity, time, or some other metric, whereas bathos may apply to an entire work, text, or speech, with no major changes in dignity.