fateful
Americanadjective
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having momentous significance or consequences; decisively important; portentous.
a fateful meeting between the leaders of the two countries.
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fatal, deadly, or disastrous.
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controlled or determined by destiny; inexorable.
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prophetic; ominous.
adjective
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having important consequences; decisively important
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bringing death or disaster
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controlled by or as if by fate
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prophetic
Synonym Usage
See ominous.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fateful
Explanation
A fateful moment is one that seems impossible to avoid. And when a fateful event occurs, it feels like it will have a big impact on your future — and usually not in a good way. “I can fit my head into this jar!” — fateful words that resulted in a trip to the hospital. Most of the time, fateful spells disaster. There was the fateful day you left your guinea pig’s cage door open, and there are fateful decisions that seem innocent at the time, but come back to haunt you later. Fate is the idea that your life is mapped out, and a fateful instance is one significant landmark on that map.
Vocabulary lists containing fateful
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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I Am Malala
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Island of the Blue Dolphins
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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.
Perched in front of her computer, eyes glued to her fateful queue number, Vevee waited for hours.
From BBC • Jun. 21, 2026
Rats are winning in New York, thanks to this fateful 1971 decision.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 11, 2026
Luna’s passion for soccer, he says, was born during that fateful World Cup at home, where Argentina earned its second title by the “hand” of Diego Maradona.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2026
Nikki’s interiority ceases only a moment after that fateful conversation about love and romance on the way home from the bar.
From Salon • Jun. 4, 2026
Before that fateful day in the principal’s office with Kohl Whitlock, Rowan hadn’t even known anyone who died.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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.
