# fatal

/ˈfeɪtəɫ/ (US) · /fˈeɪtəl/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/fatal
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. causing death

adjective · CEFR B2

causing someone to die.

For teachers: causing or capable of causing death; lethal.

- The driver was lucky to survive such a fatal accident on the highway.
- The patient had contracted a fatal dose of the toxin, leaving the medical team with very few options for intervention.

Usage: Commonly collocates with 'accident', 'blow', 'dose', or 'illness'.

### 2. leading to failure

adjective · CEFR B2

causing something to fail completely or have a very bad result.

For teachers: leading to failure, disaster, or ruin; describing a mistake that cannot be corrected.

- Forgetting to check the contract was a fatal mistake for the small company.
- The general's inability to secure the supply lines proved to be a fatal flaw in his otherwise brilliant strategy.

Usage: Often used with abstract nouns like 'flaw', 'error', or 'mistake'.

### 3. software crash

adjective · CEFR C1 · Technical

describing a computer error that is so bad the program has to stop immediately.

For teachers: denoting a processing error that results in the immediate termination of a program or operating system.

- The system crashed after a fatal error occurred during the update.
- The application encountered a fatal exception when it attempted to access a restricted memory address, forcing an immediate shutdown.

Usage: Almost exclusively used in the phrase 'fatal error' or 'fatal exception'.

### 4. destined

adjective · CEFR C2 · Archaic · Literary

decided by fate or destiny.

For teachers: proceeding from or appointed by fate; inevitable.

- He felt that this fatal meeting had been planned by the stars.
- The hero marched toward his fatal encounter with the dragon, resigned to the destiny the oracles had foretold.

Teaching tip: This sense is rare in modern speech; students will mostly encounter it in older literature or poetry.

### 5. a death

noun · CEFR C1 · Formal

an event or accident that results in a death.

For teachers: an occurrence or accident resulting in death; a fatality.

- The police reported that there were no fatals in the multi-car crash.
- While the wreckage was extensive, emergency responders were relieved to confirm there were no fatals at the scene.

Teaching tip: Using 'fatal' as a noun is much less common than using 'fatality'; it is often found in police or emergency service jargon.

## Examples

- The driver suffered a fatal injury in the crash.
- The company made a fatal mistake by ignoring the new technology, leading to its bankruptcy within a year.
- The software encountered a fatal error during the update, resulting in a complete system crash that required a manual reboot to resolve.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.