fatal — ozdic

Collocations

12

1

(adj.) causing death

VERBS

be, prove

ADV

near

The swimmer had a near fatal heart attack while competing in the ocean last summer.

always, invariably, universally | often, sometimes, usually | rarely

potentially

A car accident on the highway proved potentially fatal for the elderly driver.

PREP

for

The disease proved fatal for thousands of people during the epidemic.

to

The disease proved fatal to anyone who caught it without medical treatment.

2

(adj.) causing serious trouble

VERBS

be, prove

ADV

absolutely

ultimately

His decision to ignore the warning signs proved ultimately fatal to his business.

PREP

to

A single mistake in the surgery proved fatal to the patient's recovery.

Definitions

adj

1

Proceeding from, or appointed by, fate or destiny.

She mixed furniture with the same fatal profligacy as she mixed drinks, and this outrageous contact between things which were intended by Nature to be kept poles apart gave her an inexpressible thrill.

2

Foreboding death or great disaster.

Such a scandal as the prosecution of a brother for forgery—with a verdict of guilty—is a most truly horrible, deplorable, fatal thing. It takes the respectability out of a family perhaps at a critical moment, when the family is just assuming the robes of respectability: […] it is a black spot which all the soaps ever advertised could never wash off.

3

Causing death or destruction.

a fatal wound; a fatal disease; that fatal day; a fatal mistake

Author Rita Mae Brown consistently strings together short comical movie clips which may be fine for screenplays but fatal in novels. Unfortunately, Toder chooses to imitate this model and her story suffers.

4

Causing a sudden end to the running of a program.

a fatal error; a fatal exception

noun

1

A fatality; an event that leads to death.

For this same period there have been four fatals and 44 nonfatals in gassy mines.

The best accident rate in general aviation is in corporate/executive flying at 0.17 per 100000 hours for fatals and .50 for total accidents.

2

A fatal error; a failure that causes a program to terminate.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

adjective — controlled or decreed by fate

fateful

adjective — having momentous consequences

fateful

adjective — (of events) having extremely unfortunate or dire consequence

Antonyms

nonfatal

Idioms & Phrases

Example Bank

6

01

She mixed furniture with the same fatal profligacy as she mixed drinks, and this outrageous contact between things which were intended by Nature to be kept poles apart gave her an inexpressible thrill

Wiktionary

02

Such a scandal as the prosecution of a brother for forgery—with a verdict of guilty—is a most truly horrible, deplorable, fatal thing. It takes the respectability out of a family perhaps at a critical

Wiktionary

03

a fatal wound; a fatal disease; that fatal day; a fatal mistake

Wiktionary

04

For this same period there have been four fatals and 44 nonfatals in gassy mines.

Wiktionary

05

The best accident rate in general aviation is in corporate/executive flying at 0.17 per 100000 hours for fatals and .50 for total accidents.

Wiktionary

06

Life is a fatal sexually transmitted disease.

Tatoeba · #1871

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, fatal is marked as archaic, rare. Watch for register when choosing this word.