fatality
Americannoun
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a disaster resulting in death.
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a death resulting from such an occurrence.
a rise in highway fatalities.
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the quality of causing death or disaster; a fatal influence; deadliness.
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predetermined liability to disaster, misfortune, etc..
a fatality for saying the wrong thing.
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the quality of being predetermined by or subject to fate.
There is a fatality in human affairs that leads to destruction.
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the fate or destiny of a person or thing.
Death is the ultimate fatality of all human beings.
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a fixed, unalterably predetermined course of things; inevitability.
to resign oneself to the fatality of life.
noun
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an accident or disaster resulting in death
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a person killed in an accident or disaster
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the power of causing death or disaster; deadliness
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the quality or condition of being fated
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something caused or dictated by fate
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of fatality
From the Late Latin word fātālitās, dating back to 1480–90. See fatal, -ity
Explanation
If you hear on your car radio that there has been a traffic accident up ahead with one fatality, you should be very thankful you were not involved. A fatality is, quite simply and grimly, a human death. You will often hear fatality used in conjunction with the aftermath of a disaster, natural or otherwise. For example, a news broadcaster may say, "We have received reports of at least one fatality as a result of the storm." Fatality has its roots in the Latin word fatalis, meaning "decreed by fate." When it comes to fatality, being in the wrong place at the wrong time can certainly be ill-fated.
Vocabulary lists containing fatality
Tears of a Tiger
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for October 30–November 5, 2021
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The Hot Zone
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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.
Fatality rates in China's coal mining industry have fallen more than 90% since 1990, thanks to a package of safety reforms.
From BBC • May 31, 2026
These fighters can help throughout the match with special moves and are featured in the Fatality and Brutality scenes.
From Washington Times • Nov. 25, 2023
County representatives spoke during the state's Child Fatality Review Team meeting in May and focused on the prevalence of infant deaths linked to accidental suffocation.
From Salon • Sep. 11, 2023
The study cited statistics from the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention.
From New York Times • Mar. 8, 2023
A small Proportion of them, to whom I could not give the Vomit, or whose Cases were more complicated, remained languid a considerable Time, though without Fatality or Danger.
From Advice to the people in general, with regard to their health by Tissot, S. A. D. (Samuel Auguste David)
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.
