ENGLISH
REFERENCE

fatality

n. countable
C1 Advanced US //fəˈtæɫɪti// UK //feɪtˈælɪti// fa·tal·i·ty

n. a death that happens because of an accident, a war, or a violent event. It is often used in news reports about car crashes or natural disasters.

n. a death resulting from an accident, disaster, or act of violence. Often used in official or journalistic contexts to quantify the human cost of an event.


SIMPLE

The police reported that there was one fatality in the car accident.

CONTEXTUAL

Emergency services arrived quickly at the scene, but they confirmed at least one fatality due to the severity of the fire.

COMPLEX

While the structural damage to the city was extensive following the earthquake, the rapid evacuation meant that there was not a single fatality among the residents.

Origin

From French fatalité. equivalent to fatal + -ity. The video game move sense was popularized by the Mortal Kombat series.

Usage

Commonly used in the plural to discuss statistics or the overall impact of a tragedy.

Pitfall

The fatality of the disease is high.The fatality rate of the disease is high.A 'fatality' is an individual death; use 'fatality rate' or 'lethality' when discussing the quality of being deadly.

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