Words / B2

KLYM-aks/ˈklaɪmæks/

A climax is the most intense or important point in a story, process, or event: the climax of the novel; reach a climax. Peak is a close twin; anticlimax is a letdown. Mark the climax of the narrative, not the opening hook. Mix-up: climate (already in the dictionary); climb. Do not write climax for the first sentence.

Meaning

The most intense or important point in a story, process, or event.

Examples

• “Mark the climax of the narrative, not the opening hook, the literature paper said.”
• “Tensions reached a climax before the vote, which is the process sense.”

Good to know

the climax of; reach / build to a climax. Close: peak. Trap: climate / climb. Literature, news, and drama. The high point, not the introduction.

Near in meaning

peak

New