climaxes 1 of 2

noun

plural of climax
1
as in milestones
a point in a chain of events at which an important change (as in one's fortunes) occurs the climax of the story occurs when the hero discovers the identity of his father

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in culminations
the highest part or point the climax of her career as a performer

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

climaxes

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of climax
as in culminates
to bring to a triumphant conclusion organizers climaxed the county fair with a down and dirty pie-eating contest

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of climaxes
Noun
The pop star’s fourth album explores the cracks between the hits, the climaxes, and the comedowns. — Harry Tafoya, Pitchfork, 14 Oct. 2026 So take the chance to watch this fearlessly brutal movie, featuring a great performance from its leading lady and one of the bloodiest climaxes in horror history. — Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2026 The Mannings’ mission climaxes with Rudd and Hathaway coaching them out of the building before Goodell and his security staff catch them. — Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 9 Sep. 2026 Each concert climaxes with Pinkerton’s sword fight against the Rat Reaperess, leading to the singer’s inevitable defeat. — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 29 June 2026 Chases and weird extraterrestrial stuff abounds, leading to one of Spielberg's most gripping climaxes ever. — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 13 June 2026 This year’s sequel climaxes with Grace hijacking her second wedding to a Satanic heir by killing him and banishing his oligarchical cabal to hell. — Judy Berman, Time, 27 May 2026 Via one of popular music’s most stratospherically elevating climaxes, the song shifts into gospel overdrive with the explosive entrance of disco’s mightiest, most visceral vocalist, Loleatta Holloway. — Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 11 May 2026 Anderson is here for the melodrama, the special lessons and the climaxes that fall flat. — Jessica Lipsky, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2026
Verb
In Lloyd’s production, the action climaxes with Benedick and Beatrice in an encounter that nods to Dirty Dancing. — Zing Tsjeng, Vogue, 2 Oct. 2026 The film climaxes with a triumphant visit by the musicians, some in their 90s, to New York’s Carnegie Hall. — Jordan Hoffman, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for climaxes
  1. milestones
  2. culminations
  3. culminates
  4. watersheds
  5. pinnacles
  6. finishes
  7. landmarks
  8. heights
Noun
  • Other manufacturers have reported hourly production targets, weekly output figures, and cumulative production milestones.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The move marks one of the biggest milestones yet in MDOT's Restore the Reuther project.
    — Hannah McIlree, CBS News, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of milestones
Noun
  • Lunar eclipses, on the other hand, tend to coincide with powerful culminations, emotional revelations and the release of something that’s reached its natural conclusion.
    — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 28 July 2026
  • Full moons are culminations — don’t forget to pause and see what’s already come full circle before rushing into more.
    — Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 28 Nov. 2025
Definition of culminations
Verb
  • The exhibition culminates with the Future Indicative (1977), collaging Krasner’s figure drawings.
    — John Yau, ARTnews.com, 18 Oct. 2026
  • In Season Two, the couple dealt with making the relationship work, which culminates in tensions between the pair — and without totally spoiling it, suffice to say that does not end so well.
    — Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of culminates
Noun
  • This would give local managers greater flexibility to address wildfire risk, forest health, watersheds, timber production and local economic conditions.
    — Christiana Freitag, Chicago Tribune, 4 Oct. 2026
  • About 4 million acres in California are affected, including watersheds of the American, Rubicon and Yuba rivers.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of watersheds
Noun
  • Set the scene The resort sprawls across 10,000 square meters of AlUla’s Ashar Valley, a broad swath of pale desert surrounded by otherworldly rock pinnacles.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Fourteen years earlier, his debut feature, Ossessione, had effectively birthed Italian neorealism, and Visconti had followed it up with La Terra Trema (1948), one of the absolute pinnacles of the movement.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 24 July 2026
Definition of pinnacles
Verb
  • Rugbys and polo shirts were also in the spotlight, while jeans, the foundation of the global wardrobe, got a glow-up through elaborate decoration, dyes, and finishes.
    — Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 14 Oct. 2026
  • The family’s application also asks the Supreme Court to take up the case before the Ninth Circuit finishes its review.
    — Jackson Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of finishes
Noun
  • A couple of Frisco landmarks appear in the teaser like the city’s water tower and the Sandman Signature Plano-Frisco Hotel.
    — Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Because of that law, those landmarks — today, more than 100,000 of them — are listed on the official National Register of Historic Places.
    — Rachel Treisman, NPR, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of landmarks
Noun
  • The performance of total transparency could reach comical heights.
    — Alex Barasch, Vulture, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Construction also has already begun on a second pad, LC-36B, for an even larger version of New Glenn, and with it a new vertical integration facility that can handle the new rockets’ heights.
    — Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of heights

Browse Nearby Words

climaxed
climaxes
climaxing
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Cite this Entry

“Climaxes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/climaxes. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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