How to Use climactic in a Sentence

climactic

adjective
  • At the climactic moment, the main character of the novel finds herself face to face with the thief.
  • The torture scene was by far the most climactic in the episode.
    — Diego Ramos Bechara, Variety, 20 Sep. 2024
  • There's no painful climactic point, just a huge empty space.
    — Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 27 Apr. 2026
  • On many teams, that would have been a mere plot twist, not the climactic chapter.
    — Kevin Acee, sandiegouniontribune.com, 6 July 2018
  • The climactic battle took three days to film.
    — EW.com, 31 Aug. 2025
  • Finales now need to be crammed with cameos, climactic events and of course a cliffhanger.
    — Caroline Reid, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024
  • Unlike the movie that follows, the to-the-point lead-in is punchy and climactic.
    — Matt Patches, Esquire, 27 May 2015
  • The director and star didn't see eye to eye on the tone of the film's climactic smooch.
    — Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Dec. 2025
  • But having the end credits roll over the back end of the song does kind of step on the climactic vibe.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 28 Dec. 2022
  • Even though a few climactic scenes that take place in the mall, the show doesn’t really use the mall.
    — Aja Romano, Vox, 30 June 2019
  • There are breakups, makeups, and a climactic rite of passage.
    — Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 12 Aug. 2024
  • For a climactic scene late in the film, Egerton had to do his own fair share of rock scaling.
    — Nigel Smith, PEOPLE, 25 Apr. 2026
  • Pig poo even plays a central role in several of the film’s climactic scenes.
    — Alex Ritman, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Feb. 2022
  • But the writers said the diversion took the punch out of the climactic fight, so the scene was cut.
    — Eliana Dockterman, Time, 19 July 2019
  • Given this show’s penchant for the anti-climactic, that could be the safest bet.
    — Tom Smyth, Vulture, 11 Nov. 2025
  • By the climactic scene, Won-do, Pal-ho, and Ho-ran are dead.
    — Kayti Burt, Time, 15 May 2026
  • Each episode hooks viewers with edge-of-your-seat action and builds to big, climactic moments.
    — Leo Barraclough, Variety, 8 Oct. 2025
  • But there’s more to Mariko’s climactic sacrifice than meets the eye.
    — Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Apr. 2024
  • But certain climactic scenes also play out on Tehran’s bustling streets.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2025
  • My husband sat across the stage from me and was visible during a climactic scene in the work.
    — Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times, 26 Dec. 2023
  • In the shadow of these climactic shifts, there is a very human element.
    — Greg Mellen, Oc Register, 6 Apr. 2026
  • In one climactic scene, Jane is chased out of the palace by usurpers, and a rival army meets her at the drawbridge.
    — Erin Strecker, IndieWire, 27 June 2024
  • The third act is a bit rushed and rickety — the big climactic moment is too wacky, the denouement all too easy.
    — Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 21 June 2023
  • The movie’s climactic sequence is less expected, and a bit messier than the other episodes.
    — Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2022
  • The Shops at Rivercenter is the scene for a climactic battle.
    — Timothy Fanning, San Antonio Express-News, 7 Dec. 2021
  • The thing that happens that would normally be the climactic moment of the book is not a dark moment.
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 24 Aug. 2020
  • Thursday felt like a letdown, then, felt anti-climactic.
    — Miami Herald, 5 Feb. 2026
  • The climactic scene and the emotive needle drop would make even the blackest of hearts throb with a little emotion.
    — Abid Rahman, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 May 2023
  • There’s a climactic scene in my novel where the biologist has to climb a burning tree to save an endling tree snail.
    — Maria Reva september 3, Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2025
  • The clincher was less climactic, as the Dodgers broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the fifth, and four in the sixth.
    — Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'climactic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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