climax
/ˈklaɪ.mæks/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.60 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A culmination or acme: the last term in an ascending series, particularly
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Ye haue a figure which as well by his Greeke and Latine originals […] may be called the marching figure […] and goeth as it were by ſtrides or paces; it may aſwell by called the clyming figure, for Clymax is as much to ſay as a ladder,[…]"
- "Climax, by steps advancing, onward goes Higher and still more high to an impassion'd close."
- "[…]Expressions for the whole Climax of sensibility[…]"
- "The Begums' ministers, on the contrary, to extort from them the disclosure of the place which concealed the treasures, were, […] after being fettered and imprisoned, led out on to a scaffold, and this array of terrours proving unavailing, the meek tempered Middleton, as a dernier resort, menaced them with a confinement in the fortress of Chunargar. Thus, my lords, was a British garrison made the climax of cruelties!"
- "As a trafficker in climaxes and thrills and characterization and wonderful dialogue and suspense and confrontations, I had outlined the Dresden story many times."
- "In the accomplishment of this, they frequently reach the climax of absurdity."
Etymology
From Latin clīmax, from Ancient Greek κλῖμαξ (klîmax, “ladder, staircase, [rhetorical] climax”), from κλίνω (klínō, “to lean, slant”).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *ḱley-, clīmax, κλῖμαξ
Usage
Inflected Forms
climaxes (plural)
climaces (plural, rare)
climaxes (present, singular)
climaxing (participle, present)
climaxed (participle, past)
climaxed (past)
more climax (comparative)
most climax (superlative)
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
Synonyms
payoff
old-growth
mature ecosystem
incrementum
auxesis
catacosmesis
apex
orgasm
sexual climax
coming