fatality

noun

fa·​tal·​i·​ty fā-ˈta-lə-tē 

fə-

plural fatalities

1

a

: the quality or state of causing death or destruction

b

: the quality or condition of being destined for disaster

2

: something established by fate

3

a

: fate sense 1

b

: fatalism

4

: the agent or agency of fate

5

a

: death resulting from a disaster

b

: one that experiences a fatal outcome

Synonyms

• casualty
• loss
• prey
• victim

Examples of fatality in a Sentence

The car crash caused one fatality and several serious injuries.

the grim reminder that every holiday weekend inevitably results in a slew of highway fatalities

Recent Examples on the Web

Too many state officials have not yet learned that lesson. Correction, November 13, 6 pm ET: An earlier version of this story miscalculated the number of pedestrian fatalities on Roosevelt Boulevard in 2022. —David Zipper, Vox, 13 Nov. 2024

Young Drivers of Canada, the country's largest driving training organization, found the risk of fatalities on the roads on Election Day was 38 percent higher than on Super Bowl Sunday and 80 percent higher than on News Year's Day. —Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 1 Nov. 2024

There have been 439 mass shootings across the U.S. this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, including 24 mass gun murders, defined as a mass shooting with four or more fatalities. —Ty Roush, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants but says women and children make up more than half the fatalities. —Wafaa Shurafa, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle French fatalité, from Late Latin fatalitat-, fatalitas, from Latin fatalis

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing fatality

• case fatality rate
• case fatality ratio
• fatality rate

Kids Definition

fatality

noun

fa·​tal·​i·​ty fā-ˈtal-ət-ē 

fə-

plural fatalities

: a death resulting from a disaster or accident

Medical Definition

fatality

noun

fa·​tal·​i·​ty fā-ˈtal-ət-ē, fə- 

plural fatalities

1

: the quality or state of causing death or destruction : deadliness

the degree of fatality of a disease

2

a

: death resulting from a disaster

a car crash causing several fatalities

b

: one who suffers such a death

one of the fatalities was a small child