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

Dial said Hill arrived at work as the incident was occurring, attempted to intervene, and was fatally shot by Wendell Champion, who then shot and injured his wife before killing himself. —Arkansas Online, 12 May 2026

Bahm, who was on a call with 911 pleading for help, was also fatally stabbed after Fahim pushed through the door while Bahm was still on the call. —Samira Asma-Sadeque, PEOPLE, 12 May 2026

Officials have identified the person who was fatally struck on a Denver airport runway Friday as 41-year-old Michael Mott, who is believed to have died by suicide, the medical examiner said Tuesday morning. —Mirna Alsharif, NBC news, 12 May 2026

Steve and Kristi Goncalves, whose daughter Kaylee Goncalves was fatally stabbed in November 2022 in Moscow, co-founded the organization, which will offer private funding to help solve cold cases with advanced DNA techniques like the one used to catch the man who killed their daughter. —Kevin Fixler may 11, Idaho Statesman, 11 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for fatally

• postnatally
• prenatally