climactic
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What’s the difference between climactic and climatic? Climactic is used to describe things that involve or feel like a climax—the culmination or most intense part of a story or situation. Climatic means relating to climate—the average atmospheric conditions that prevail in a given region over a long period of time—whether a place is generally cold and wet or hot and dry, for example.Climactic is used in situations in which a peak of some kind is being reached, such as a climactic ending of a movie. The word anticlimactic is used—perhaps more commonly—to mean the opposite, such as when you expect something exciting to happen but it doesn’t.Climatic is not all that commonly used, especially because it has a much more narrow meaning. It’s typically used in scientific contexts involving climate and weather.You can keep their spellings straight by remembering that climactic comes from climax, so it needs that c in replacement of the x before the ending -tic. Climatic, on the other hand, is basically climate plus the -ic ending (with the e having been dropped).Here’s an example of climactic and climatic used correctly in a sentence.Example: Many people have failed to recognize the danger of the change in climatic conditions because the change has been a relatively gradual one, rather than a dramatic, climactic spike—but that may soon change.Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between climactic and climatic.
Other Word Forms
- climactically adverb
- nonclimactic adjective
- nonclimactical adjective
- unclimactic adjective
Etymology
Origin of climactic
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Instead, “Undertone” is like getting to the climactic moment of your favorite horror podcast, only to have the terrifying impetus interrupted by a Squarespace ad.
From Salon • Mar. 15, 2026
As is often the case in Disney movies, things push on to a climactic series of action scenes that are more hectic than exciting.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026
That aside, the film’s barrage of scenes, sketches, shout-outs and absurdist scenarios leading up to the climactic wine-making championship are largely harmless flights of farce.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2026
There’s humor in Ibsen’s ironic observations but the play’s climactic moments are deadly serious.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 25, 2026
The final go-round of the song reached its climactic end.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
