A situation or event which is much less impressive than expected.
〈英〉不尽如人意的势态（或事件）
my moment of power was a damp squib
Example sentencesExamples
I'd seen the build up for supposedly brilliant battles which turned into damp squibs too many times in recent seasons to have any faith in an optimistic claim that this would be a modern day classic.
Today's demonstration in London looked like something of a damp squib - around 25,000 protestors compared with the hundreds of thousands who turned out a year ago.
Well the cynics among you may well be thinking that this is yet another government report that arrives in a blaze of glory and ends up as something of a damp squib!
A spectacular charity firewalk has been called off because council bungling turned the event into a damp squib.
Rival operators soon pounced on the launch as something of a damp squib, with one suggesting the system would be better dubbed ‘confusion’.
The legislation was little more than a damp squib, offering the possibility of some positive changes but hardly making the necessary difference.
Organisers of York's November 5 fireworks spectacular were slammed as the aerial display proved a damp squib, with thousands of people unable to see the show.
The singer's anthemic effort failed to live up to Ireland's high-scoring record in the contest, and that made the event something of a damp squib.
I was a tad worried that the new series might be an over-hyped damp squib.
She warned that although there was a lot of potential with the town twinning, unless the community pulled together it would be a damp squib.
Part of the reason is the entire internet revolution has turned out to be a damp squib and those companies that strategically aligned themselves to it have paid a high price in the meantime.
That great night out amounted to nothing short of a damp squib - thanks to the weather - when we were all confined to barracks as dangerous roads meant only the foolhardy decided to travel.
Despite fine words about sustainability and pages of pretty pictures of the environment, the Scottish Forestry Strategy turns out to be a damp squib.
The final straw came when the captain forgot to give the countdown to midnight at the New Year's Eve, making a damp squib of the party.
This is a couple of weeks earlier than most people had expected, I fluctuate between thinking it will be a great success or a damp squib.
For a government that claims its willingness to take tough decisions, this paper really is a damp squib.
And, as we all know, these hot new names who are going to set the world on fire sometimes turn out to be damp squibs.
While the region is considered a boxing - mad area, it is a fact that local fans are reluctant to attend events which could well turn into a damp squib.
It's a Wednesday, it's a midweek work/school sort of a night, and somehow it's all a bit of a social damp squib.
This rendered the Stravinsky programme opener more damp squibs than Fireworks, and Joshua Bell's highest notes in the Sibelius sometimes got drowned by the orchestra.
Synonyms
fiasco, debacle, catastrophe, disaster, blunder, vain attempt, abortion, defeat