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From the M-W Editors
climacteric was our Word of the Day on 09/25/2011. Hear the podcast!
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Examples of climacteric in a Sentence
as the war reached its climacteric phase, the atrocities dramatically increased, both in number and brutality
Recent Examples of climacteric from the Web
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Macerating unripe climacteric fruit in sugar, however, isn’t a substitute for ripening them; that just takes time in your kitchen counter’s fruit basket.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'climacteric.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of climacteric
Latin climactericus, from Greek klimaktērikos, from klimaktēr critical point, literally, rung of a ladder, from klimak-, klimax ladder
climacteric Synonyms
Synonyms
apocalyptic (also apocalyptical), climacticRelated Words
apical, apogean, crestal, crowning, culminating, high, highest, meridian; critical, crossover, crucial, fateful, life-and-death (also life-or-death), vital; cataclysmal (or cataclysmic), earthshaking, epochal, momentous; deciding, decisive, payoff, pivotal, watershed; go-no-go, make-or-breakNear Antonyms
anticlimactic (also anticlimactical); inconsequential, indecisive, insignificant, noncritical, trivial, unimportantDefinition of climacteric
1
:a major turning point or critical stage
2 a
:menopause 1
b
:andropause
3
:the marked and sudden rise in the respiratory rate of fruit just prior to full ripening
Examples of climacteric in a Sentence
historians attempting to pinpoint the Roman Empire's climacteric, that precise moment when it began its long downhill slide
Did You Know?
Climacteric comes from the Greek word klimaktēr, meaning "critical point" or, literally, "rung of a ladder." English speakers have long used climacteric for those inevitable big moments encountered on the metaphorical ladder of life. The major climacterics in a person’s life were once thought to happen in years denoted by multiples of 7 or 9 or only in the odd multiples of 7 (7, 21, 35, etc.). The grand (or great) climacteric was held to occur in the 63rd (7 x 9) or the 81st (9 x 9) year of life. Today, climacteric can refer to male or female menopause, which typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, but the general "turning point" sense is not usually tied to a specific age.
First Known Use of climacteric
1633
climacteric Synonyms
Synonyms
turning point, climax, corner, landmark, milepost, milestone, watershedRelated Words
break, capper, clincher, crusher, highlight, topper; conversion, metamorphosis, transfiguration, transformation, turnabout, turnaround; boiling point, breaking point, clutch, conjuncture, crisis, crossroad (s), crunch, crunch time, Dunkirk, emergency, exigency, extremity, flash point, head, juncture, zero hourOther Physiology Terms
Medical Dictionary
medical Definition of climacteric
:constituting or characterized by the climacteric
- the climacteric state
Learn More about climacteric
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