fatal
Americanadjective
-
causing or capable of causing death; mortal; deadly.
a fatal accident;
a fatal dose of poison.
- Antonyms:
- life-giving
-
causing destruction, misfortune, ruin, or failure.
The withdrawal of funds was fatal to the project.
- Synonyms:
- devastating, catastrophic, calamitous, disastrous, ruinous
-
decisively important; fateful.
The fatal day finally arrived.
-
proceeding from or decreed by fate; inevitable.
a fatal series of events.
-
influencing or concerned with fate; fatalistic.
-
Obsolete. condemned by fate; doomed.
-
Obsolete. prophetic.
adjective
-
resulting in or capable of causing death
a fatal accident
-
bringing ruin; disastrous
-
decisively important; fateful
-
decreed by fate; destined; inevitable
Usage
What does fatal mean? Fatal literally means deadly—capable of causing death. Similar words are deadly, lethal, and mortal—though they are often used in different ways. Fatal can also be used in a figurative way to mean capable of causing the destruction, ruin, or failure of someone or something, as in Failing to update their products proved to be a fatal mistake for the company. Example: These changes will hopefully greatly reduce the number of fatal car accidents that occur on highways.
Synonym Usage
Fatal, deadly, lethal, mortal apply to something that has caused or is capable of causing death. Fatal may refer to either the future or the past; in either case, it emphasizes inevitability and the inescapable—the disastrous, whether death or dire misfortune: The accident was fatal. Such a mistake would be fatal. Deadly looks to the future, and suggests that which is likely to cause death (though not inevitably so): a deadly poison, disease. Like deadly, lethal looks to the future but, like many other words of Latin origin, suggests a more technical usage: a lethal dose; a gas that is lethal. Mortal looks to the past and refers to death that has actually occurred: He received a mortal wound. The disease proved to be mortal.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fatal
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English or directly from Old French, from Latin fātālis “ordained by fate, decreed”; see origin at fate, -al 1
Explanation
The adjective fatal describes something that is capable of causing death. Certain cleaning products, for instance, are labeled, “Could be fatal if swallowed.” Here's a helpful suggestion: don't swallow them. Can you hear the word fate in fatal? In ancient times, people believed that the future was determined by a force called fate, and in the 14th century, the French used the word fatal to describe anything that fate had decreed, including death. By the next century the word had evolved to mean something that specifically causes death. Today the term is used more loosely. If your friend makes a fatal mistake on the tennis court, it doesn't mean that he'll literally die, just that he'll lose the game.
Vocabulary lists containing fatal
"The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs
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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"The situation regarding dangerous infectious diseases remains unstable," it said, highlighting among other things a "significantly worsened" measles situation in three US states, and a "fatal case of plague" recorded in New Mexico in June.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
A hemorrhagic stroke is less common than an ischemic stroke, but it is more fatal and occurs when a blood vessel leaks or ruptures in the brain, according to the Mayo Clinic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
The illness is highly fatal, with average fatality rates approaching 100%.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026
It marks a win for the U.S. plane maker after years of crises, including two fatal crashes and concerns over the quality of the work performed at its factories.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
Griffith approached the problem by focusing on the microbe: Why was pneumococcus so fatal to animals?
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
