fatal
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.causing someone to die.
adj.causing or capable of causing death; lethal.
Simple“The driver was lucky to survive such a fatal accident on the highway.”
In context“The patient had contracted a fatal dose of the toxin, leaving the medical team with very few options for intervention.”
UsageCommonly collocates with 'accident', 'blow', 'dose', or 'illness'.
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.causing something to fail completely or have a very bad result.
adj.leading to failure, disaster, or ruin; describing a mistake that cannot be corrected.
Simple“Forgetting to check the contract was a fatal mistake for the small company.”
In context“The general's inability to secure the supply lines proved to be a fatal flaw in his otherwise brilliant strategy.”
UsageOften used with abstract nouns like 'flaw', 'error', or 'mistake'.
Synonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
adj.describing a computer error that is so bad the program has to stop immediately.
adj.denoting a processing error that results in the immediate termination of a program or operating system.
Simple“The system crashed after a fatal error occurred during the update.”
In context“The application encountered a fatal exception when it attempted to access a restricted memory address, forcing an immediate shutdown.”
UsageAlmost exclusively used in the phrase 'fatal error' or 'fatal exception'.
- 04 C2 Proficiency
adj.decided by fate or destiny.
adj.proceeding from or appointed by fate; inevitable.
Simple“He felt that this fatal meeting had been planned by the stars.”
In context“The hero marched toward his fatal encounter with the dragon, resigned to the destiny the oracles had foretold.”
Teacher's tipThis sense is rare in modern speech; students will mostly encounter it in older literature or poetry.
Synonyms - 05 C1 Advanced
n.an event or accident that results in a death.
n.an occurrence or accident resulting in death; a fatality.
Simple“The police reported that there were no fatals in the multi-car crash.”
In context“While the wreckage was extensive, emergency responders were relieved to confirm there were no fatals at the scene.”
Teacher's tipUsing 'fatal' as a noun is much less common than using 'fatality'; it is often found in police or emergency service jargon.
Usage fatal shooting
“Federal agents hold a person down, two weeks after the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good on 7 January during an immigration raid.”
“The disease it causes is severe and often fatal.”
From Middle French fatal, from Latin fātālis (“fatal”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.