casualty

noun

ˈka-zhəl-tē How to pronounce casualty (audio)
Definition of casualtynext
1
as in victim
a person or thing harmed, lost, or destroyed the real casualties in the war against drugs are millions of innocent children

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in accident
a chance and usually sudden event bringing loss or injury casualties at sea that sometimes resulted in great losses of men or even of entire ships

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in luck
archaic the uncertain course of events believes finding one's true love is too important a matter to be left to mere casualty

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of casualty Regulators who treat the AI transition as something happening to their industry will be the bottleneck first and the casualty second. — Matthew White, Fortune, 7 July 2026 Jonglei State government spokesperson Nyamar Lony Thichiot told The Associated Press late Monday that casualty figures remained unclear. — ABC News, 7 July 2026 Those casualties are hard to count because Russia does not report them. — Diana Dukhanova, The Conversation, 6 July 2026 One study estimates that infectious diseases were responsible for 90% of casualties in the Continental Army. — Helen Branswell, STAT, 6 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for casualty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for casualty
  1. victim
  2. accident
  3. luck
  4. fatality
  5. chance
  6. circumstance
  7. hazard
Noun
  • The most meaningful one for her was an ornament workshop attended by several victims of the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.
    — Lisa Boone, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2026
  • The Broward County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) identified the victim as 18-month-old Wilson Mathias Jr.
    — Madison E. Goldberg, PEOPLE, 8 July 2026
Definition of victim
Noun
  • Derived from a Central African shrub, the drug's ability to reduce withdrawal symptoms and cravings were uncovered by accident, when Howard Lotsof, a 19-year old addicted to heroin, tried ibogaine out of curiosity in 1962.
    — Gavin Escott, USA Today, 6 July 2026
  • Since 2023, state regulators have issued 6,928 citations, including 140 for abuse and neglect by staff, 254 for accident hazards, and 257 for failing to control infections, according to state records.
    — Bruce Finley, Denver Post, 5 July 2026
Definition of accident
Noun
  • The group of death in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers wasn’t enough, because in Egypt’s next attempt to reach the finals in 2006, their luck put them in a group with Didier Drogba’s Ivory Coast and Samuel Eto’o’s Cameroon.
    — Ahmed Walid, New York Times, 4 July 2026
  • In retrospect, the result looks less like luck than like a compounding advantage.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 3 July 2026
Definition of luck
Noun
  • The majority of these strikes happen during the summer, causing around 20 fatalities each year, according to the NWS.
    — KANSAS CITY STAR WEATHER BOT, Kansas City Star, 4 July 2026
  • The three fatalities are believed to have been children all under the age of 13, CBS Chicago reports, citing law enforcement sources.
    — Madison E. Goldberg, PEOPLE, 3 July 2026
Definition of fatality
Noun
  • In addition, their style of play makes broad use of their outrageous attacking options, virtually guaranteeing a supply of chances for a player who can score almost any type of goal from anywhere in the attacking third.
    — Tim Spiers, New York Times, 8 July 2026
  • Amid its six-shot flurry in the initial 10 minutes, Belgium created one golden chance that was a near miss.
    — Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 July 2026
Definition of chance
Noun
  • The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation.
    — Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 7 July 2026
  • Hughes did not respond to a message seeking more information about the circumstances of the crash.
    — Caroline Zimmerman, Kansas City Star, 6 July 2026
Definition of circumstance
Noun
  • Plus, the company argued, there wasn’t enough evidence that detainees were exposed to any hazard.
    — Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026
  • The new proposal aims to sidestep that hazard by using MCB only occasionally and only in a small portion of the atmosphere.
    — Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 8 July 2026
Definition of hazard

Browse Nearby Words

casualties
casualty
casuistic
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Casualty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/casualty. Accessed 11 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on casualty

Nglish: Translation of casualty for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of xeric

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All