fatal

FAY-tuhl/ˈfeɪ.təl/

Noun pluralfatals

6 meanings of fatal

1
adjective
Able to cause death or serious harm.
Like a poison strong enough to kill.
The car crash was fatal for both drivers.
Without quick treatment, the snakebite can be fatal.
Similardeadly, lethal, destructive, mortal, catastrophic
Oppositeharmless, nonfatal, survivable
Note
2
nouncountable
A death caused by an accident or violent event.
The pileup caused one fatal and many injuries.
Police reported two fatals over the weekend.
Similarfatality, death
Note
3
adjective
Making a computer program stop working all at once.
Like a sudden power cut that shuts everything off at once.
A fatal error closed the game without warning.
The update caused a fatal crash on startup.
Similarunrecoverable, critical
Oppositerecoverable, nonfatal
Note
4
nouncountable
A computer problem so bad that the program has to stop.
The app threw a fatal and closed itself.
Two fatals appeared in the log before the server died.
Similarcrash
Note

Less common meanings

5
adjectivearchaic
Warning that death or great trouble is coming.
Like a dark cloud that warns a storm is coming.
A fatal silence fell over the village before the storm.
The old sailors saw the red sky as fatal.
Similarominous, sinister, dire, disastrous, foreboding
Note
6
adjectivearchaic
Decided by fate and certain to happen.
Like a story whose ending was already written.
They felt their meeting was fatal, meant to happen all along.
He saw every step of his life as fatal, fixed before his birth.
Similarinevitable, unavoidable, certain, inescapable, necessary
Note

Practice

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Origin

From Latin "fatalis", meaning "fatal", which came into English through Middle French.