fatality
noun
Simple meaning
The quality of being able to cause death or fatal disasters.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fuhtalihteeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
fəˈtælɪti
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A death resulting from an accident or a disaster
“A decrease in the number of automobile fatalities.”
The quality of being able to cause death or fatal disasters
An accident that causes death. [from 19th c.]
Tendency to death, destruction or danger, as if by decree of fate. [from 17th c.]
That which is decreed by fate or which is fatal; a fatal event. [from 18th c.]
A person killed.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A death resulting from an accident or a disaster
Used this way, fatality is a common word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It carries more force than its gentler alternatives. It turns up most in personal or emotional discussion and literature or storytelling contexts.
“A decrease in the number of automobile fatalities.”
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Strong
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Where it naturally appears
- Personal/emotional discussion
- Literature/storytelling
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
With fatal consequences or implications.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The ratio of deaths in an area to the population of that area.
The number of cases of a disease ending in death divided by the number of cases of the disease.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.