climax
Americannoun
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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)
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:
It was heading towards a tense climax when Piastri's retirement brought out the VSC.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Until, that is, the play’s rather retrograde climax, when the playwright’s provocateur wildness goes limp.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
The film is, then, a fairly standard underdog-makes-good story, rising to a climax in the French and Indian War in the 1750s, when Washington was in his 20s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
“If the broadening out is making a sustainable comeback, this price momentum in semis stocks likely needs to reach a climax, and it appears that may be happening, on schedule,” Wilson says.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026
Ellsberg, a self-described “Watergate junkie,” watched the drama speed toward its climax.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
“As Mac he avoids both melodrama and condescension, finding climaxes in each small step toward rehabilitation, each new responsibility shouldered.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026
He goes in for big effects, lots of percussion, huge climaxes and sweet melodies of which you can never, if so inclined, get enough.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2025
Some of the best popcorn movie climaxes are built around less.
From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2025
The film climaxes with a famously chaotic performance at at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, where Dylan was booed by some members of the audience for playing an electric set with an amplified band.
From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2024
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
Kino’s hypocrisy stems from the same swamp as the original’s fictitious Dr. Gröss, whose lurid footage climaxed with a tsk-tsking screed against poverty, pollution and fascism as major contributors to the global death toll.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
Cody Gakpo's run into the PSV area climaxed with a shot that was parried by Matej Kovar and Szoboszlai pounced to guide a first-time finish into the empty net from 12 yards.
From Barron's ● Nov. 26, 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
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
And the matter was finally climaxed in the episode at the Museum of Science and Industry.
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
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
Instead of climaxing at graduation, “Beating Heart Baby” takes the end of high school as its midpoint, and in the second half of the book, Santi’s narration gives way to Suwa’s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2022
The film teases a confrontation between Marcus and Joe, climaxing with a meeting recalling Michael Mann’s “Heat.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 31, 2022
"The Expanse" maintains the poetry in its scripts and plotting even as the last episodes wrap up too neatly, climaxing by solving of an impossible conundrum with a strategy that strains credibility.
From Salon ● Dec. 11, 2021
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.
