as in disastrous
bringing about ruin or misfortune
a fateful encounter with a confidence man that they would long regret
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Recent Examples of fateful
And that’s further than almost any other RSV vaccine has gotten since those fateful clinical trials six decades ago.
—
Tara Haelle, Scientific American, 23 Sep. 2025
Darren Rizzi sensed trouble just before the fateful snap against Indianapolis.
—Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 21 Sep. 2025
Speculation had gone into overdrive prior to the announcement, with experts wondering whether Masaryk may have conveyed a fateful warning before Europe's descent back into war.
—Jay Ganglani, NBC news, 19 Sep. 2025
The episode structures the lead-up to the fateful robbery with a neo-noir sheen, utilizing multiple points of view set within the same time frame.
—Andy Andersen, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fateful
Tara Haelle, Scientific American, 23 Sep. 2025
Darren Rizzi sensed trouble just before the fateful snap against Indianapolis.
—Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 21 Sep. 2025
Speculation had gone into overdrive prior to the announcement, with experts wondering whether Masaryk may have conveyed a fateful warning before Europe's descent back into war.
—Jay Ganglani, NBC news, 19 Sep. 2025
The episode structures the lead-up to the fateful robbery with a neo-noir sheen, utilizing multiple points of view set within the same time frame.
—Andy Andersen, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fateful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fateful
Adjective
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Pittman, 63, was credited with stabilizing the program in the wake of the disastrous 4-20 run in two years under Chad Morris (2018-19), and had a 32-34 record in his first FBS head coaching job.—
Tom Murphy,
Arkansas Online,
28 Sep. 2025
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Inconsistencies in recent years, along with a disastrous 56-13 loss to Notre Dame on Saturday, spelled the end of Pittman's tenure at Arkansas.—
Reice Shipley,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The crossover came amid recent turmoil, including Colbert’s show being canceled by in July and Kimmel's temporary suspension by ABC in September following controversial comments about the fatal shooting of political activist Charlie Kirk.—
Megan Cartwright,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
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And one expert has suggested that steel or concrete barriers can also help guard against deadly attacks like the one in Grand Blanc Township, as well as unintentional fatal wrecks and may even help businesses stave off plaintiff lawsuits.—
Frank Witsil,
Freep.com,
1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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All the rest are likely to shine in movies by good directors, and most actors whose reputations aren’t illustriously artistic have mainly been unfortunate in their collaborations.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
30 Sep. 2025
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Irish butter may now an internationally marketable commodity, but in Swift’s day, the Irish peasantry fought back against their replacement by cattle by maiming and driving the unfortunate cattle off cliffs.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The floods will return – and some will be catastrophic.—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN Money,
1 Oct. 2025
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The law defines catastrophic risk narrowly as incidents potentially causing 50+ deaths or $1 billion in damage through weapons assistance, autonomous criminal acts, or loss of control.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
30 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fateful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fateful. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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