fateful
adj.adj. describing a day or an event that has a very big effect on the future. It is often used when something happens that changes your life forever.
adj. having far-reaching and typically disastrous consequences or implications. Often used to describe a moment or decision that irrevocably alters the course of future events.
That fateful decision changed the course of his life.
On that fateful afternoon in July, the two leaders signed the treaty that would eventually lead to war.
Historians often point to that fateful meeting as the catalyst for the revolution, though the participants could not have foreseen the magnitude of the changes they were setting in motion.
From fate + -ful.
Typically used attributively before a noun; frequently paired with 'day', 'decision', or 'meeting'.
a fatal decisiona fateful decisionLearners confuse 'fateful' (significant/life-changing) with 'fatal' (causing death or total failure).