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Literature vocabulary · Plot and Structure

Climax

Meaning in literature, with examples

/ˈklaɪmæks/nounCore term

In literature, climax means: The most intense and important moment of a story, when the main conflict reaches its turning point and the outcome is decided.

In Turkish: doruk noktası, zirve, klimaks

How it is used

Part of the classic plot structure: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. Critics say a story builds to, reaches or leads up to a climax, and may call it dramatic, powerful or disappointing. The adjective is climactic.

Example sentences

  1. The climax comes when she finally confronts her brother in the burning house.

  2. The whole second half of the play builds slowly toward its climax.

Common collocations

  • reach a climax
  • build to a climax
  • dramatic climax
  • the climax of the novel
  • rising actionThe part of a plot after the exposition in which complications and tension build up step by step toward the climax.
  • falling actionThe part of a plot after the climax, in which the tension decreases and the results of the main conflict become clear before the resolution.
  • conflictThe struggle between opposing forces in a story, such as two characters, a character and society, or a character and their own desires, which drives the plot.
  • resolutionThe final part of a story, after the climax, where the main conflict is settled and loose ends are tied up.
  • plotThe series of connected events in a story and the way the writer arranges them, especially how one event causes another.

More terms: Plot and Structure

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