as in deadly
likely to cause or capable of causing death
we were lucky that the snake's venom wasn't lethal, and our friend turned out to be all right
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Recent Examples of lethal
Takaichi has pledged to revise security and defense policies by December to bolster Japan’s military capabilities, lifting a ban on lethal weapons exports and moving further away from postwar pacifist principles.
—
ABC News, 17 Feb. 2026
Quentin Kujala, the chief of conservation policy at Montana’s Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, told me that the number of lethal wolf removals that officials have had to conduct due to livestock conflicts has decreased in that same time frame.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 16 Feb. 2026
Officers on a rooftop were recorded launching less lethal munitions at the media and peaceful demonstrators.
—Natasha Korecki, NBC news, 14 Feb. 2026
Russian opposition figure and outspoken Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, who died two years ago, was killed while in prison by a lethal toxin found in poison dart frogs in South America, five European countries have said in a statement Saturday.
—Catherine Nicholls, CNN Money, 14 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for lethal
ABC News, 17 Feb. 2026
Quentin Kujala, the chief of conservation policy at Montana’s Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, told me that the number of lethal wolf removals that officials have had to conduct due to livestock conflicts has decreased in that same time frame.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 16 Feb. 2026
Officers on a rooftop were recorded launching less lethal munitions at the media and peaceful demonstrators.
—Natasha Korecki, NBC news, 14 Feb. 2026
Russian opposition figure and outspoken Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, who died two years ago, was killed while in prison by a lethal toxin found in poison dart frogs in South America, five European countries have said in a statement Saturday.
—Catherine Nicholls, CNN Money, 14 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for lethal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lethal
Adjective
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His party successfully capitalized on rising nationalism fueled by a deadly border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia last year, economic woes and uncertainty over Thailand’s trade relationship with the United States, and built up a strong local support base.—
Helen Regan,
CNN Money,
17 Feb. 2026
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Prosecutors say Gray gave his son the weapon used in the deadly shooting for Christmas in 2023, months after his son had been accused of threatening a school shooting online.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
16 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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That comment came during after-school fodder just days following the fatal shooting of Renee Good.—
Alisha Ebrahimji,
CNN Money,
17 Feb. 2026
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Two days after a fatal shooting inside a Kansas City nightclub, prosecutors have charged a Kansas City, Kansas, man with two counts of second-degree murder.—
Laura Bauer,
Kansas City Star,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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All parts of delphinium plants are poisonous to humans and pets.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
17 Feb. 2026
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This was always a question of what happens to this friend group when there’s a poisonous dynamic at the center?—
Emily Longeretta,
Variety,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Lethal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lethal. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
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