mortal

adjective

mor·tal | \ ˈmȯr-tᵊl

Definition of mortal

(Entry 1 of 3)

1 : causing or having caused death : fatal a mortal injury

2a : subject to death mortal man Every living creature is mortal.

b : possible, conceivable have done every mortal thing

c : deadly sense 3 waited three mortal hours

3 : marked by unrelenting hostility a mortal enemy

4 : marked by great intensity or severity mortal fear

5 : human mortal limits a nobody with an all too mortal longing to be a somebody — Time

6 : of, relating to, or connected with death mortal agony

mortal

adverb

Definition of mortal (Entry 2 of 3)

chiefly dialectal

: mortally

mortal

noun

Definition of mortal (Entry 3 of 3)

: a human being

Other Words from mortal Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about mortal

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Choose the Right Synonym for mortal

Adjective

deadly, mortal, fatal, lethal mean causing or capable of causing death. deadly applies to an established or very likely cause of death. a deadly disease mortal implies that death has occurred or is inevitable. a mortal wound fatal stresses the inevitability of what has in fact resulted in death or destruction. fatal consequences lethal applies to something that is bound to cause death or exists for the destruction of life. lethal gas

Examples of mortal in a Sentence

Adjective

Every living creature is mortal. He suffered a mortal wound in the battle.

Noun

stories about gods interfering in the lives of mortals the troubles that come to ordinary mortals

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Superman) was always saving him, which made his little brother his mortal alter ego. — Kayla Keegan, Good Housekeeping, "The Best 'This Is Us' Recap of Episode 10 From Season 3," 16 Jan. 2019 MoviePass ran into problems after a hefty price reduction led to rapid subscriber growth that placed the company in mortal financial peril. — Jon Porter, The Verge, "MoviePass will launch three new subscription plans in January," 6 Dec. 2018 Aircraft carriers have reigned supreme since 1945, and those in the United States' fleet have not faced a mortal threat since V-J Day. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "As It Begins Its Second Century, Is the Aircraft Carrier Obsolete?," 5 Nov. 2018 At the same time, there is a history of lawsuits that most legal experts thought were unpersuasive nonetheless putting ACA in mortal danger — first the lawsuit against the individual mandate and then the challenge to insurance subsidies. — Sarah Kliff, Vox, "Federal court rules Obamacare unconstitutional — but the law stands for now," 15 Dec. 2018 In the mortal world, Diwali, which falls on a different day between October and November each year, is intended to serve in part as a spiritual palette cleanser between the close of one year and the start of another. — Noor Brara, Vogue, "Celebrating Diwali, in Light of the Midterms," 10 Nov. 2018 What does work is the movie’s remaining third — mostly the final 20 minutes — where nearly every character is in some kind of mortal danger but has a hard time finding anyone who’ll take them seriously because of the general holiday craziness. — Noel Murray, The Verge, "Hulu’s horror anthology Into the Dark represents the good and bad sides of Blumhouse Productions," 5 Oct. 2018 The complaint depicts an organization in mortal peril, whose lack of access to basic financial instruments could threaten its very existence. — Dylan Matthews, Vox, "The National Rifle Association, America’s most powerful lobby, claims it’s in financial crisis. What?," 3 Aug. 2018 Nope, that honor (or dishonor) goes to the toxic masculinity Sabrina, her aunts, and her friends battle in both the mortal and witch worlds. — Christopher Rosa, Glamour, "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Is Dark and Scary, But Not in the Way You Think," 26 Oct. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

And while excellent genes have no doubt helped their case, there is something to be learned by mere mortals from the designer’s more-is-more beauty philosophy. — Vogue, "4 Versace Beauty Rules Every Bombshell Should Know By Heart," 21 Sep. 2018 One that might be a big change for Markle is that the family opens presents at teatime on Christmas Eve—not Christmas morning, like most of us mere mortals. — Christopher Rosa, Glamour, "Why Meghan Markle Can't Open Presents on Christmas Anymore," 13 Nov. 2018 The idea is this: Mere mortals who have the cash get to make turns and ride the lift with a former Olympic skier for the day. — Candice Rainey, Condé Nast Traveler, "What It's Like to Ski With an Olympian," 4 Dec. 2018 Us mortals — er, muggles — might better know JoJo as J.K. Rowling. — Mary H.k. Choi, The Cut, "Jessica Williams Is Ready to Claim What’s Hers," 4 June 2018 In all these works, tesseracts open up the possibilities of space and time to us three-dimensional mortals. — refinery29.com, "A Wrinkle In Time," 7 Mar. 2018 Apart from the climactic climb, the most fascinating part of the film is rehearsing for the climb, a process that may actually contain useful lessons for us mortals who trip over our shoelaces. — Joe Morgenstern, WSJ, "‘Free Solo’ Review: Gripping Drama, Surpassing Spectacle," 27 Sep. 2018 Deciding to have or not to have a baby seems like too enormous a decision for mere mortals. — Carolyn Hax, The Seattle Times, "She wants a baby. He doesn’t. Should they just leave it up to chance?," 7 Aug. 2018 Metals and mortals could both be made more pure by freeing that little bit of divine spirit hidden in nature. — Meg Neal, Popular Mechanics, "The Eternal Quest for Aether, the Cosmic Stuff That Never Was," 19 Oct. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mortal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.