adjective
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involving, indicating, or tending towards suicide
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liable to result in suicide
a suicidal attempt
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liable to destroy one's own interests or prospects; dangerously rash
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of suicidal
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 US Navy has denied any increase in suicidal behaviour on the Lincoln, but has acknowledged that supplies had been "disrupted by combat actions" during the war with Iran.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
In the three major biggest nuclear countries, the United States, Russia and China, the people involved with those nuclear forces know that a purposeful attack is essentially suicidal.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
In these years, Günter dissents from his teacher’s theory of the death drive by arguing that even suicidal struggles are evidence of a desire to go on living.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
At a Department of War briefing last week, Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth was asked whether Iran was using “kamikaze,” or suicidal, dolphins to attack military assets in the Strait of Hormuz.
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
Launching the boats now would be suicidal, but chances were they were about to be pitched into the water at any moment.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
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.
