climax
Americannoun
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climaxes
plural
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the highest or most intense point in the development or resolution of something; culmination.
His career reached its climax when he was elected president.
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(in a dramatic or literary work) a decisive moment that is of maximum intensity or is a major turning point in a plot.
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Rhetoric.
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a figure consisting of a series of related ideas so arranged that each surpasses the preceding in force or intensity.
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the last term or member of this figure.
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an orgasm.
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Ecology. the stable and self-perpetuating end stage in the ecological succession or evolution of a plant and animal community.
verb (used with or without object)
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climaxes,
present (3rd person singular)
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climaxed,
past participle, past
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climaxing
present participle
noun
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the most intense or highest point of an experience or of a series of events
the party was the climax of the week
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a decisive moment in a dramatic or other work
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a rhetorical device by which a series of sentences, clauses, or phrases are arranged in order of increasing intensity
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ecology the stage in the development of a community during which it remains stable under the prevailing environmental conditions
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Also called: sexual climax. (esp in referring to women) another word for orgasm
verb
Usage
What does climax mean? A climax is the most intense, decisive point of something, especially in a story or film.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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climaxsimple
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climaxessimple
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have climaxedperfect
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has climaxedperfect
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am climaxingprogressive
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are climaxingprogressive
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is climaxingprogressive
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have been climaxingperfect progressive
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has been climaxingperfect progressive
Past
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climaxedsimple
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had climaxedperfect
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was climaxingprogressive
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were climaxingprogressive
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had been climaxingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of climax
First recorded in 1580–90; from Late Latin, from Greek klîmax “ladder,” akin to klī́nein “to lean”
Explanation
When something — like a movie or piece of music — reaches its most important or exciting part, that's the climax. A climax is a high point. When you're on a roller coaster and you reach the highest point, that's the climax of the ride. This word is also used often in art and entertainment. In an adventure movie, there's usually a moment near the end when there's a lot of danger, suspense, and action — a point the whole movie has been building towards. That's the climax. After a climax, tension is released and things calm down. After a climax, you probably want to say "Whew!"
Vocabulary lists containing climax
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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AP English Lit exam terms
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Rhetoric
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But then toward the climax, Einbinder has a powerful close-up that puts the film back in her pocket.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
The melee in Delhi marked the climax of several weeks of protests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
The yearslong divorce battle nears a climax Friday, when a panel of appeals court judges is scheduled to decide how to divide Chey’s roughly $5 billion fortune with his 65-year-old ex-wife, Roh Soh-yeong.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
That chandelier started in four separate pieces, flying through the auditorium to come together and form the complete fixture at the overture’s climax.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
In Seattle it reached its climax along the waterfront on July 18.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
The end of the Trojan War is one of several climaxes, yielding one of the most brilliant action scenes of the filmmaker’s celebrated career.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Lando Norris leads Red Bull's Max Verstappen by 12 points and McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri by 16 as they head to a track that has hosted a number of dramatic climaxes in the past.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025
That could be full orchestra climaxes louder than you ever thought possible without amplification.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2025
Some of the best popcorn movie climaxes are built around less.
From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2025
As a trafficker in climaxes and thrills and characterization and wonderful dialogue and suspense and confrontations, I had outlined the Dresden story many times.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
But Marcus Tavernier's 69th minute penalty, awarded for Max Kilman's handball, sparked a Bournemouth fightback that climaxed with Enes Unal's 81st minute equaliser.
From Barron's ● Nov. 22, 2025
Universal substantially increased the budget and abandoned underground racing for an “Ocean’s 11”-style heist that climaxed with a car racing through Rio de Janeiro while dragging a bank vault.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2025
Then he did a spiel about proving naysayers wrong that climaxed with his enumerating how many People’s Choice Awards he’s won.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2024
It climaxed with Chalamet’s sheltered scion, Paul Atreides, abducted from his family’s spice-mining compound and left to die in the scorching Arrakis desert, patrolled by fanged sandworms the size of the Empire State Building.
From New York Times ● Feb. 21, 2024
The debate over Lawrence’s future at Berkeley climaxed at an acrimonious faculty conclave pitting the hard sciences, represented by Birge and Lewis, against the humanities and social sciences departments.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Seven stakes are for 2-year-olds, climaxing with the $50,000 Gottstein Futurity at a mile and 70 yards on closing day.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 6, 2024
The Nats established themselves during an eight-year stretch when they made the postseason five times, climaxing with the 2019 World Series win.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 5, 2022
But the escalating silliness of her response, climaxing as the queen and princess traded barbs over the clutched dagger until Alicent finally drew blood, tipped the drama into farce.
From New York Times ● Oct. 2, 2022
In the third poem, “Dry Savages,” music and dance come closest to amplifying Eliot, climaxing as the poet begins to reach for revelation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2020
The conference unanimously voted to initiate a massive countrywide antipass campaign beginning March 31 and climaxing on June 26 with a great bonfire of passes.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
