1
: having a quality of ominous prophecy
a fateful remark
2
a
: involving momentous consequences : decisive
… made his fateful decision to declare war …—
W. L. Shirer
W. L. Shirer
b
3
: controlled by fate : foreordained
fatefulness
noun
Examples of fateful in a Sentence
His life changed on that fateful November evening.
Hundreds perished on that fateful day.
Her campaign took a fateful turn.
Recent Examples on the Web
The film adopts Lockjaw’s leering gaze over the curves of her body in a crucial scene before this fateful meeting.
—Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2025
Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton didn’t know it then, but that fateful exchange in November 2016 would lead to a decade of holidays together, a lasting friendship and a story of compassion that would continue to grip the internet years later.
—Melina Khan, USA Today, 22 Nov. 2025
Its most gripping, least typical chapter describes an outbreak in breathlessly suspenseful detail, tracking the contagion from Alexandria, where a shipworker has a fateful encounter with a monkey’s fleas, all the way to England and, eventually, the Shakespeares’ doorstep.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2025
At her fateful meeting with Dorothy, a single burning broomstraw falls into her lap, setting her skirts on fire.
—Time, 21 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fateful
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Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2025
Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton didn’t know it then, but that fateful exchange in November 2016 would lead to a decade of holidays together, a lasting friendship and a story of compassion that would continue to grip the internet years later.
—Melina Khan, USA Today, 22 Nov. 2025
Its most gripping, least typical chapter describes an outbreak in breathlessly suspenseful detail, tracking the contagion from Alexandria, where a shipworker has a fateful encounter with a monkey’s fleas, all the way to England and, eventually, the Shakespeares’ doorstep.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2025
At her fateful meeting with Dorothy, a single burning broomstraw falls into her lap, setting her skirts on fire.
—Time, 21 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fateful
Cite this Entry
“Fateful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fateful. Accessed 4 Dec. 2025.
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