1
as in disastrous
bringing about ruin or misfortune
I made the fatal mistake of sharing my secret with the office's biggest blabbermouth
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in lethal
likely to cause or capable of causing death
that snake's venom is fatal unless the victim is given the antidote almost immediately
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fatal
After a near-fatal experience, Kaif began seeing both stories and silences differently.
—
Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 24 Sep. 2025
Wednesday’s fatal shooting at a Dallas ICE field office was at least the fourth instance of violence or a threat at an ICE or Customs and Border Protection facility in Texas this year.
—Chris Boyette, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2025
Renner suggested that his salary was slashed in half due to his near-fatal accident in 2023.
—Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 23 Sep. 2025
Brayan Camacho Calleja, better known as the Mexican rapper El Moreno Mexicano, was arrested in Indianapolis after a fatal vehicle crash in downtown.
—Noe Padilla, IndyStar, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fatal
Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 24 Sep. 2025
Wednesday’s fatal shooting at a Dallas ICE field office was at least the fourth instance of violence or a threat at an ICE or Customs and Border Protection facility in Texas this year.
—Chris Boyette, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2025
Renner suggested that his salary was slashed in half due to his near-fatal accident in 2023.
—Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 23 Sep. 2025
Brayan Camacho Calleja, better known as the Mexican rapper El Moreno Mexicano, was arrested in Indianapolis after a fatal vehicle crash in downtown.
—Noe Padilla, IndyStar, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fatal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fatal
Adjective
-
The Murdochs, meanwhile, would get some redemption themselves, following the disastrous purchase of MySpace in 2005, which came right as Facebook was emerging as a dominant social platform.—
Alex Weprin,
HollywoodReporter,
21 Sep. 2025
-
But with so much riding on these systems, there can be potentially disastrous consequences at a massive scale if something goes wrong.—
Kevin Purdy,
ArsTechnica,
20 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The man continued to move toward officers, who tried to use less-lethal devices that did not work before shooting him.—
Katie Langford,
Denver Post,
26 Sep. 2025
-
An earlier model of the killer girl 'bot was turned into a lethal weapon by the military but has gone rogue, and M3GAN's inventor (Allison Williams) needs to give the original a super-duper upgrade to stop the deadly newcomer.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Widespread grief leads to new laws The catastrophic flooding that engulfed parts of Camp Mystic killed at least 136 people across Texas’ fabled Hill Country.—
Holly Yan,
CNN Money,
24 Sep. 2025
-
Remove Stains Normally, grease stains can be a nightmare to remove, and one slip of tomato sauce onto your favorite blouse or ink spill onto the white carpet can be catastrophic.—
Hallie Milstein,
Southern Living,
23 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Extensive data and research conducted by health and science experts have shown that COVID-19 is deadlier and more contagious than influenza viruses.—
Chantelle Lee,
Time,
23 Sep. 2025
-
The disease is even more deadly in low- and middle-income countries that don’t have the resources to provide supportive care to children with severe infections.—
Tara Haelle,
Scientific American,
23 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Plus, Vince’s on-screen demise serves an unfortunate reminder of the realities of real-life firefighting.—
Claire Franken,
TVLine,
23 Sep. 2025
-
The Ravens move on to Week 4 with an unfortunate stat, having scored 111 points across three games.—
Paulina Dedaj,
FOXNews.com,
23 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fatal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fatal. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share