Standard Lemma guide

climactic

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˌklaɪˈmæk.tɪk/
  • British, Southern, Standard: /ˌklɑjˈmaktɪk/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K L AY0 M AE1 K T IH0 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

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

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective

Meaning 2

consisting of or causing a climax

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a climactic development

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: anticlimactic

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English climax 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.

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Dutch: climactisch — Translations
  • German: klimaktisch — Translations
  • Polish: klimaksowy — Translations