climactic

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English climax

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Indo-European *-ikos

Proto-Italic *-ikos

Latin -icuslbor.

Old French -iquebor.

Middle English -ik

English -ic

English climactic

From climax + -ic on analogy of syntactic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌklaɪˈmæk.tɪk/
• (Standard Southern British) IPA^(key): /ˌklɑjˈmaktɪk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

climactic (comparative more climactic, superlative most climactic)

1. Of, pertaining to, or constituting a climax; reaching a decisive moment or point of greatest excitement.

   The race ended in a climactic, neck-and-neck scramble for the finish line.

   • 2011 December 13, Antony Jones, “Book review of 'Elantris' by Brandon Sanderson”, in SF Book‎^[1]:

     ... and the ending (within the last 50-ish pages) is simply incredible; very climactic.

   • 2023 March 14, Caryn James, “John Wick: Chapter 4: 'Soars above most action films'”, in BBC‎^[2]:

     And in Paris, Wick has a meeting with the Marquis, the Eiffel Tower providing a picturesque backdrop. A big, climactic scene is set on the steps and in the shadow of Sacré-Coeur.

   • 2024 May 31, Janet di Lauro, “DAYS’s Elia Cantu Reveals The Backstory of Her Musical Performance”, in Soap Opera Digest‎^[3]:

     Then we went to General Hospital, which is a very climactic sound. And we ended it with the best, Days of our Lives.

Usage notes

• Do not confuse with climatic, which relates to climate.

Derived terms

• anticlimactic
• climactically
• disclimactic
• paraclimactic
• plagioclimactic
• postclimactic
• preclimactic
• unclimactic

Related terms

• climatic
• climax

Translations

Translations

• Dutch: climactisch (nl)
• German: klimaktisch
• Polish: klimaksowy m