climax

\kli.maks\

/\kli.maks\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“climax” is uncommon French (frequency #53,208 among 8,609 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,208
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Point culminant d’une énumération progressive, d’une gradation ascendante ou descendante.

Corpus desk

Index FR-climax · climax · French

climax · rank #53,208 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,208
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH Clifton

Nearest frequency peer: Clifton (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangs de longue queue près de « climax »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « climax » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for climax
PropertyValue
Headwordclimax
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kli.maks\
Letters6
Frequency rank#53,208
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « climax » en français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.climaxtombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Voisins rares de la même bande: « Clifton » (#53,207), « cliniciens » (#53,209), « circuiter » (#53,206). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « climax » est au #53,208. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

climax is uncommon French at frequency #53,208 among 8,609 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \kli.maks\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for climax, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is climax, spelled C-L-I-M-A-X.

Definition

  1. 1
    Point culminant d’une énumération progressive, d’une gradation ascendante ou descendante.
  2. 2
    État final d’une succession de végétations au même endroit, dans le temps, et l’état le plus stable dans les conditions de sol et de climat existantes.
  3. 3
    Temps final particulièrement surprenant d’un tour de prestidigitation.
  4. 4
    Trait où deux parties vont à la tierce en montant ou en descendant diatoniquement.
  5. 5
    Trait de chant qui est répété plusieurs fois de suite à chaque fois un ton plus haut.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how climax appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. 1968, le climax des années 60, ces années dont les mots d’ordre furent ceux de la rupture, de l’excès et de la révolte. Cette décennie vit la naissances des « jeunes », comme catégorie socio-culturelle.
  2. La lumière est l'ultime fétiche de l’économie de marché, atteignant son climax spectaculaire sur les plateaux de jeux et de téléréalité, saturés de néons. Certains artistes tentent, sans doute en vain, de la revirginiser.

Synonyms

point d'orguepoint culminantapogéeacméparoxysmezénith

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "climax"?
"climax" is spelled C-L-I-M-A-X. The IPA pronunciation is \kli.maks\.
What does "climax" mean?
As a noun, "climax" means: Point culminant d’une énumération progressive, d’une gradation ascendante ou descendante.
How do you pronounce "climax"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "climax" is \kli.maks\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "climax" come from?
"climax" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "climax", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

chieur#53,201chapon#53,196Caspar#53,191calmos#53,184

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list