lethality

Also le·thal·ness

[lee-thal-i-tee]

noun

1. the capacity to cause great harm, destruction, or death.

   Many pathogens are self-limited by their own lethality—the host dies before it has a chance to spread the pathogen.

2. the likelihood of causing great harm, destruction, or death.

   Mutations can increase or decrease lethality, but most viruses mutate to less lethal forms.

3. death.

   Prion diseases, such as so-called “mad cow,” are characterized by neurodegeneration and lethality.

Word History and Origins

Origin of lethality¹

lethal ( def. ) + -ity ( def. )

Example Sentences

“The lethality and accessibility of firearms give abusers in suicidal crisis the ability to overpower and harm multiple people with little chance for intervention or survival,” according to the report.

Read more on Salon

“The ‘war fighting’ and ‘lethality’ they plan is inside their own country and comes from conflicts inside their own minds,” Snyder wrote on social media.

Read more on Salon

She said he intended to "maximise lethality against ICE personnel and to maximise property damage at the facility".

Read more on BBC

“Fentanyl is too dangerous a threat — 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine — to not treat its lethality with the seriousness and immediacy it requires,” Hochman said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The government's defence review said AI technologies "would provide greater accuracy, lethality, and cheaper capabilities".

Read more on BBC