adjective
- Having momentous consequences; of decisive importance.
- usage: "that fateful meeting of the U. N. When... It declared war on North Korea- Saturday Rev; "the fatal day of the election finally arrived"
- synonyms: fatal
- Ominously prophetic.
- synonyms: foreboding, portentous
- Of events. ( having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; bringing ruin)
- usage: "the stock market crashed on Black Friday"; "a calamitous defeat"; "the battle was a disastrous end to a disastrous campaign"; "such doctrines, if true, would be absolutely fatal to my theory- Charles Darwin; "it is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it- Douglas MacArthur; "a fateful error"
- synonyms: black, calamitous, disastrous, fatal
- Controlled or decreed by fate; predetermined.
- usage: "a fatal series of events"
- synonyms: fatal
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). fateful. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/fateful/definitions/1173956 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "fateful" http://smartdefine.org/fateful/definitions/1173956 (accessed September 20, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, fateful, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/fateful/definitions/1173956>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "fateful" 23 October 2010. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/fateful/definitions/1173956> |