climatic

[ klahy-mat-ik ]

adjective

1. of or relating to climate.
2. (of ecological phenomena) due to climate rather than to soil or topography.

Other Words From

• cli·mati·cal·ly adverb
• subcli·matic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of climatic¹

First recorded in 1820–30; climate + -ic

Example Sentences

The driver for the climatic shift came not from above, but from below—in Earth’s oceans.

From Popular-Science

That way, the team could see if spot patterns within an individual species can adapt to local climatic conditions, which would be a faster evolutionary response than between different species.

From Science News

We can’t call these climatic conditions a drought anymore, because that implies it will end.

From Outside Online

He points out that we can’t call these climatic conditions a drought anymore, because that implies it will end.

From Outside Online

The center identified some 20 target towns on the basis of their ability both to withstand climatic changes and to offer employment and education opportunities for newcomers.

From Time

These days in the United States Senate, even the moments of drama are totally anti-climatic.

From The Daily Beast

As a result, reporting and public expectations suffered a dreadful, anti-climatic slump.

From The Daily Beast

The rapid vacillations of climatic conditions were deadly to most forms of life.

From The Daily Beast

We can even set aside global warming as a primary cause because we are seeing outbreaks that are within historic climatic ranges.

From The Daily Beast

I don't think he is a curmudgeon, I think he just likes challenging climatic conditions.

From The Daily Beast

These differences may be the result of original difference in species or may be due to climatic and other influences of nature.

From Project Gutenberg

The troops also were not numerous enough, under the climatic conditions, to do all their own duty.

From Project Gutenberg

Climatic conditions alone had prevented a much greater height being attained.

From Project Gutenberg

These climatic conditions undoubtedly account to some extent for the less virile, independent character of the people.

From Project Gutenberg

The climatic conditions of Pliocene times show steady fall of temperature.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• meteorological

Climatic Vs. Climactic

What’s the difference between climatic and climactic?

Climatic means relating to climate—the average atmospheric conditions that prevail in a given region over a long period of time—whether a place is generally cold and wet or hot and dry, for example. Climactic is used to describe things that involve or feel like a climax—the culmination or most intense part of a story or situation.

Climactic is used in situations in which a peak of some kind is being reached, such as a climactic ending of a movie. The word anticlimactic is used—perhaps more commonly—to mean the opposite, such as when you expect something exciting to happen but it doesn’t.

Climatic is not all that commonly used, especially because it has a much more narrow meaning. It’s typically used in scientific contexts involving climate and weather, like the climatic conditions of a region.

You can keep their spellings straight by remembering that climactic comes from climax, so it needs that c in replacement of the x before the ending -tic. Climatic, on the other hand, is basically climate plus the ending -ic (with the e having been dropped).

Here’s an example of climatic and climactic used correctly in a sentence.

Example: Many people have failed to recognize the danger of the change in climatic conditions because the change has been a relatively gradual one, rather than a dramatic, climactic spike—but that may soon change.

Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between climatic and climactic.

Quiz yourself on climatic vs. climactic!

Should climatic or climactic be used in the following sentence?

Someone knocked on the door right when the movie had reached its _____ moment.