suicidal

[ soo-uh-sahyd-l ]

adjective

1. pertaining to, involving, or suggesting suicide.
2. tending or leading to suicide.
3. foolishly or rashly dangerous:

   He drives at a suicidal speed.

suicidal

/ ˌsjuː-; ˌsuːɪˈsaɪdəl /

adjective

1. involving, indicating, or tending towards suicide
2. liable to result in suicide

   a suicidal attempt

3. liable to destroy one's own interests or prospects; dangerously rash

Derived Forms

• ˌsuiˈcidally, adverb

Other Words From

• sui·cidal·ly adverb
• pseudo·sui·cidal adjective
• unsu·i·cidal adjective
• unsu·i·cidal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of suicidal¹

First recorded in 1770–80; suicide + -al ¹

Example Sentences

They are also very handy at helping you safely navigate some otherwise suicidal obstacles, primarily steep climbs and descents.

From Popular-Science

During the booking process, a nurse asked Moriarty if he was suicidal.

From Voice of San Diego

This time, during booking, he said “no” when asked if he was suicidal.

From Voice of San Diego

Werner claims nearly everyone working in the jail knew Moriarty was suicidal.

From Voice of San Diego

The report also said that about twice as many people reported suicidal thoughts within a month’s time compared to the number of people who reported feeling that way during an entire year in 2018.

From Fortune

In Swaziland, girls who experienced violence were also at greater risk for alcohol abuse, depression and suicidal thoughts.

From The Daily Beast

After curing the elderly of their semi-suicidal depression, winning the White House must seem like a snap.

From The Daily Beast

At Stanford, so the story goes, he talked a suicidal student down from a roof.

From The Daily Beast

I was never suicidal, though depressed and cut off from myself.

From The Daily Beast

Many were despondent or even suicidal when they first arrived.

From The Daily Beast

In suicidal cases it is especially in the morning hours that patients need the closest surveillance.

From Project Gutenberg

I had doubted so many things, and now suddenly I doubted my unimportance, doubted my right to this suicidal abandonment.

From Project Gutenberg

And this assumption of "direction" is unconvincing, if not suicidal in character.

From Project Gutenberg

We may also, in this connexion, think of the seminal emissions sometimes observed in cases of suicidal hanging.

From Project Gutenberg

I told her all—my evil designs, the monetary speculations, my suicidal purposes, my moral cowardice.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dangerous
• deadly
• depressed
• destructive
• fatal
• lethal