fatally

adverb

fa·​tal·​ly ˈfā-tᵊl-ē 

1

: in a way determined by fate

2

: in a manner suggesting fate or an act of fate: such as

a

: in a manner resulting in death : mortally

fatally wounded

b

: beyond repair : irrevocably

c

: in a manner resulting in ruin or evil

It is fatally easy to pass off our prejudices as our opinions.

—W. F. Hambly

d

: in a manner that cannot be easily resisted

… thinks she is fatally attractive …

—J. W. Krutch

Examples of fatally in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

An hours-long standoff at a Leavenworth, Kansas, apartment complex ended Thursday after a man fatally shot himself, according to local officials. —Caroline Zimmerman, Kansas City Star, 14 Mar. 2026

During one of the shootings, Sheriff Shittu, a 30-year-old aspiring fashion designer, was fatally shot in the head after a tussle with a drunk patron who had groped his girlfriend earlier in the night. —Nicholas Williams, New York Daily News, 14 Mar. 2026

Last September, a former Marine fatally shot four people at a church north of Detroit and set it ablaze. —Arkansas Online, 14 Mar. 2026

Ghazali fatally shot himself after he got stuck in his vehicle and the engine caught fire, said Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office. —ABC News, 14 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for fatally

• postnatally
• prenatally