Synonyms of fell

fell 1 of 2

verb

1

as in to down

to strike (someone) so forcefully as to cause a fall

a champion boxer who was shockingly felled in the first round

Synonyms & Similar Words

• down
• drop
• hit
• floor
• topple
• smack
• knock over
• slap
• mow (down)
• knock down
• prostrate
• level
• pound
• slam
• bang
• punch
• bowl (down or over)
• thump
• overthrow
• knock out
• poke
• whack
• throw down
• hammer
• jab
• smite
• paste
• swipe
• belt
• slug
• bash
• bludgeon
• sock
• clobber
• swat
• KO
• whale
• slog
• kayo
• thwack
• wallop

2

as in to mow

to bring down by cutting

the settlers began the daunting task of felling the mighty trees that blanketed the island

Synonyms & Similar Words

• mow
• cut (down)
• hew
• chop (down)
• demolish
• flatten
• tear down
• level
• raze
• bulldoze

3

as in to kill

to deprive of life

the quest for a cure for malaria, the disease that felled so many during the digging of the Panama Canal

Synonyms & Similar Words

• kill
• destroy
• slay
• take
• carry off
• claim
• dispatch
• off
• do for
• croak
• do away with
• murder
• do in
• slaughter
• cut down
• make away with
• assassinate
• take out
• finish
• whack
• put away
• get
• waste
• neutralize
• smite
• kill off
• butcher
• blot out
• snuff
• decimate
• annihilate
• mow
• rub out
• ice
• execute
• bump off
• massacre
• terminate
• knock off
• put down
• suicide
• scrag
• martyr
• euthanize

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• restore
• revive
• raise
• animate
• resurrect
• resuscitate
• nurture

fell

2 of 2

adjective

1

as in lethal

likely to cause or capable of causing death

planning for the distribution of resources in case of some fell event

Synonyms & Similar Words

• lethal
• deadly
• fatal
• infectious
• poisonous
• killer
• mortal
• deathly
• terminal
• infective
• toxic
• murderous
• dangerous
• harmful
• baleful
• vital
• injurious
• pestilent
• destructive
• hazardous
• serious
• threatening
• ugly
• pernicious
• bloody
• baneful
• risky
• virulent
• perilous
• grave
• noxious
• deleterious
• truculent
• sanguine
• menacing
• sanguinary
• grievous
• pestilential
• jeopardizing
• unhealthy
• sublethal
• unsound
• parlous
• internecine

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• healthy
• nonfatal
• beneficial
• wholesome
• healthful
• useful
• salutary
• nonlethal
• advantageous
• restorative
• remedial
• salubrious
• corrective
• tonic
• safe
• curative
• alleviative
• nontoxic
• nonpoisonous

2

as in savage

violently unfriendly or aggressive in disposition

a once-mighty nation conquered by a fell and barbarous enemy

Synonyms & Similar Words

• savage
• fierce
• vicious
• ferocious
• grim
• merciless
• ruthless
• murdering
• brute
• murderous
• relentless
• menacing
• threatening
• wild
• feisty
• bloody
• belligerent
• contentious
• militant
• scrappy
• ravenous
• combative
• pugnacious
• assaultive
• discordant
• chippy
• warlike
• confrontational
• sanguine
• pitiless
• barbaric
• bellicose
• implacable
• quarrelsome
• heartless
• uncivilized
• inhuman
• gladiatorial
• argumentative
• unrelenting
• truculent
• in-your-face
• sanguinary
• disputatious
• bloodthirsty
• brawly
• bestial
• inhumane
• wanton
• homicidal
• bare-knuckle
• take-no-prisoners
• blood-and-guts
• voracious
• rapacious

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• mild
• warm
• gentle
• friendly
• tame
• congenial
• kind
• hearty
• cordial
• compliant
• submissive
• genial
• amicable
• merciful
• benign
• human
• companionable
• compassionate
• peaceful
• amiable
• unaggressive
• pacific
• comradely
• peaceable
• warmhearted
• cultured
• civilized
• humane
• obliging
• complaisant

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of fell

Verb

John Adams famously wrote to his wife, Abigail, that smallpox was killing 10 soldiers for every one felled in battle. — Katrine L. Wallace, The Conversation, 24 June 2026

Pumphrey was felled there by a British musket ball, his body left to lie in a shallow grave in South Carolina. — Scott Neuman, NPR, 23 June 2026

Adjective

In one fell swoop, $58,000 of stock (roughly the equivalent of $92,000 today) just disappeared. — Olivia Potts, Longreads, 28 May 2026

Their first album in nine years, Paradessence, surveys a global landscape defined by genocide, climate catastrophe, and post-pandemic disorder with clarity, weaving unnerving builds with gorgeous, blooming moments best listened to in one fell swoop. — Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 22 May 2026