Synonyms for fatal
- adjective
Most common
deadly lethal calamitous mortal baleful star-crossed inevitable
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Deadly — causing death or destruction
deadly, lethal, calamitous, mortal, disastrous, fateful, tragic, pernicious, destructive, catastrophic, ruinous, devastating, baneful, unfortunate, killing, terminal, harmful, malignant, cataclysmic, deathly, black, cataclysmal
2. Baleful — foreboding death or great disaster
baleful, star-crossed, ill-fated, dire, portentous, ill-starred, ominous, sinister, mischievous
3. Inevitable — proceeding from, or appointed by, fate or destiny
inevitable, unavoidable, inescapable, ineluctable, necessary
Definitions
- adj. 1
Proceeding from, or appointed by, fate or destiny.
- adj. 2
Foreboding death or great disaster.
- adj. 3
Causing death or destruction.
a fatal wound; a fatal disease; that fatal day; a fatal mistake
Related words
- Word family
- fatalism fatalist fatalistic fatality fatally
Example sentences
- deadly Sloth or laziness is one of the seven deadly sins.
- lethal Pufferfish can be lethal if not prepared properly.
- mortal Old bread can sometimes be used as a mortal weapon.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| fatal | steady | |
| deadly | rising | |
| lethal | steady | |
| mortal | rising | |
| calamitous | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- dire1
- 5 letters
- black1
- 6 letters
- deadly2, tragic2, lethal2, mortal2
- 7 letters
- killing2, harmful2, ominous3, fateful2, deathly2, ruinous3, baleful2, baneful
- 8 letters
- terminal3, sinister3
- 9 letters
- necessary4, malignant3
- 10 letters
- inevitable5, disastrous3, pernicious3, calamitous4, portentous3
- 11 letters
- unfortunate4, destructive3, devastating4, unavoidable5, mischievous3, inescapable5, cataclysmic4, ineluctable, cataclysmal
- 12 letters
- catastrophic4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (deadly2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- fatal
- Italiano
- fatale
- Español
- fatal
- Deutsch
- verhängnisvoll