Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective fateful differ from other similar words?

The words ominous and portentous are common synonyms of fateful. While all three words mean "having a menacing or threatening aspect," fateful suggests being of momentous or decisive importance.

the fateful conference that led to war

Where would ominous be a reasonable alternative to fateful?

Although the words ominous and fateful have much in common, ominous implies having a menacing, alarming character foreshadowing evil or disaster.

ominous rumblings from the volcano

When is it sensible to use portentous instead of fateful?

While the synonyms portentous and fateful are close in meaning, portentous suggests being frighteningly big or impressive but now seldom definitely connotes forewarning of calamity.

an eerie and portentous stillness

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 fateful More than a century after its tragic sinking, the RMS Titanic is still revealing the details of that fateful night thanks to revolutionary underwater scanning technology, which offers unprecedented insights into the ship's final moments. David Muir, ABC News, 9 Apr. 2025 And those unpleasant histories come to the fore one fateful night. Nic Stone, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025 The final episode of The White Lotus season three ended with a fateful bang for Rick (Walton Goggins) and girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood), two of three series regulars who were gunned down in the climax of creator Mike White‘s latest work. Josh Wigler, HollywoodReporter, 7 Apr. 2025 Newly obtained investigative files provide fresh insight into one of New England's most notorious murder mysteries, which unfolded after Nathan Carman and his mother Linda Carman took a fateful fishing trip on Sept. 17, 2016. Audrey Karnan, ABC News, 4 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for fateful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fateful
Adjective
  • Or, even more recently, the disastrous April 8 update to protect against the CVE-2025-21204 vulnerability that installed a mysterious folder, and got everyone’s collective conspiracy theory panties in a bunch.
    Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 27 Apr. 2025
  • Democrats have been grappling with their own version of that resolution, especially ever since the disastrous defeat of their party’s presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, in November.
    Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune, 27 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Across all suicide attempts not involving a firearm, only 4% result in death; but for firearm suicide, approximately 90% of attempts are fatal.
    Alyssa Goldberg, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2025
  • How Many Aviation Crashes Were There in 2024? NTSB data shows that throughout 2024, there were 1,199 aviation incidents and accidents, 180 of which were fatal.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Such a difficult call really spotlighted for the first time how tough a situation he has been left in by Eddie Howe’s unfortunate absence (due to pneumonia).
    Chris Waugh, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2025
  • In 2022, Manhattan Federal Judge Jed Rakoff, who presided over both trials, decided The Times was not liable for defamation while jurors were deliberating, that the error amounted to unfortunate editorializing but not libel.
    Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 22 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Fateful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fateful. Accessed 3 May. 2025.

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