as in finishing
to bring to a triumphant conclusion
culminated the school year with a trip to New York
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as in crowning
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Recent Examples of culminating
Wwd Staff, Footwear News, 8 Sep. 2025
Singh previously held several leadership roles at Unisys, a global technology solutions company, culminating with his position as CFO.
—Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2025
The rest of the clip features a montage of road trip antics and coming-of-age escapades, all of it culminating at a Green Day show.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2025
Tamra was awful to Gretchen back then, culminating in the Naked Wasted Party, which was one of the cruelest things to ever happen on Housewives.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
Israeli strikes severely weakened Hezbollah – culminating in the assassination of its revered leader, Hassan Nasrallah – and significantly curtailed the group’s domestic clout.
—Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 5 Sep. 2025
But over the past five seasons, the number of transfers from ‘the 14’ to ‘the six’ has gone up, culminating in 11 so far in 2025-26, with the possibility of more when trading resumes in January.
—Oliver Kay, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2025
Gaza has cast a long shadow over the Venice Film Festival this year, starting with some uncomfortable questions about the conflict for this year’s jury and culminating in a march that was ultimately turned away from the festival’s Ground Zero.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 3 Sep. 2025
The findings suggest that the path to belief is often deeply social, beginning with emotional disruption and culminating in collective action.
—Thomas Westerholm, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
In 2014, Silverstein brought her expertise to Coach as senior vice president of global customer experience, expanding her scope over the years across marketing, digital, sustainability, and creative — culminating in her recent promotion to CMO.
—Wwd Staff, Footwear News, 8 Sep. 2025
Singh previously held several leadership roles at Unisys, a global technology solutions company, culminating with his position as CFO.
—Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2025
The rest of the clip features a montage of road trip antics and coming-of-age escapades, all of it culminating at a Green Day show.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2025
Tamra was awful to Gretchen back then, culminating in the Naked Wasted Party, which was one of the cruelest things to ever happen on Housewives.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
Israeli strikes severely weakened Hezbollah – culminating in the assassination of its revered leader, Hassan Nasrallah – and significantly curtailed the group’s domestic clout.
—Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 5 Sep. 2025
But over the past five seasons, the number of transfers from ‘the 14’ to ‘the six’ has gone up, culminating in 11 so far in 2025-26, with the possibility of more when trading resumes in January.
—Oliver Kay, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2025
Gaza has cast a long shadow over the Venice Film Festival this year, starting with some uncomfortable questions about the conflict for this year’s jury and culminating in a march that was ultimately turned away from the festival’s Ground Zero.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 3 Sep. 2025
The findings suggest that the path to belief is often deeply social, beginning with emotional disruption and culminating in collective action.
—Thomas Westerholm, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for culminating
Verb
-
The end of the season was a struggle, winning just once in their last five matches, finishing 10th in the league.—
Megan Feringa,
New York Times,
4 Sep. 2025
-
This son of War Front has run twice at Kentucky Downs finishing second in 2023 and fifth in 2022.—
Danny Brewer,
Forbes.com,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The victory was a crowning moment in her rapid ascent since joining the main roster in May 2025.—
Andrew Ravens,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Aug. 2025
-
For their contributions, ACM awarded Hellman, 70, and Diffie, 71, the crowning achievement in the field.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
4 Mar. 2016
Verb
-
Beck finished the game completing 22 of 24 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns, both of which went to CJ Daniels.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
7 Sep. 2025
-
Harrell’s improvement After a slow start against the Mountaineers in the Duke’s Mayo Classic, tossing an interception and completing just 54% of his passes, Harrell showed slight improvements against the Tar Heels’ defense.—
Hunter Bailey,
Charlotte Observer,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Cue the unexpected secret, the race against time, and the climactic wedding.—
Skyler Trepel September 1,
EW.com,
1 Sep. 2025
-
Olbinski recalled taking eight of his friends to see the movie in theaters, his footage in the backdrop of the film’s climactic scene.—
Hayleigh Evans,
AZCentral.com,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Both times, Macy’s rejected the buyout offers, concluding the deals wouldn’t be in shareholders’ best interests.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
3 Sep. 2025
-
When she was eventually reached, both Rajab and the paramedics were found dead, with media investigations concluding that an Israeli tank had likely fired 335 rounds into the car.—
Alex Ritman,
Variety,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Chaining together standard and heavy blows with acrobatic spins, slips, and dives is fluid and intuitive — leaving combat feeling like an ever-climaxing dance of death that often ends with insta-kill execution moves.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Santor’s 2020 production pivot proved fateful for the islands, whose national airline has since inaugurated a nonstop route from LAX.—
Gary Baum,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Sep. 2025
-
Miller could be seen bending over and grimacing after the fateful pitch, in an obvious degree of pain.—
Jon Vankin,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Back treatments address muscle tension while clearing meridian blockages.—
Pooja Shah,
Forbes.com,
26 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Culminating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/culminating. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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