ENGLISH
REFERENCE

fatally

adv. manner
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈfeɪtəɫi// UK //fˈeɪtəli// fa·tal·ly

adv. in a way that causes death or leads to total failure.

adv. in a manner that results in death or leads to a disastrous, irreversible conclusion. Often modifies verbs related to injury or nouns describing flaws in a plan.


SIMPLE

The driver was fatally injured in the crash.

CONTEXTUAL

The project was fatally flawed from the start because the team ignored the budget limits.

COMPLEX

While the initial error seemed minor, it proved fatally damaging to the company's reputation once the internal documents were leaked to the press.

Origin

From fatal + -ly.

Usage

Commonly used with the past participle 'injured' or 'wounded' in news reports; also used figuratively with 'flawed' or 'weakened'.

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