Meanings
lethal1
adjectivelethal (comparative more lethal, superlative most lethal)
comparative more lethal · superlative most lethal
- Of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal.
Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless.
2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845
lethal2
nounlethal (uncountable)
- uncountablechemistryOne of the higher alcohols of the paraffine series obtained from spermaceti as a white crystalline solid.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny weapon that causes death.
Opposite
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
lethal · adjective, noun
- Latinlētālis“deadly, mortal, fatal”
- Englishlethal
Learned borrowing from Latin lētālis (“deadly, mortal, fatal”), improperly written lēthālis, from lētum (“death”), improperly written as lēthum, from a supposed connection with Ancient Greek λήθη (lḗthē, “oblivion, forgetfulness”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →lethal · noun
Abbreviation of “lauric acid ethereal salt”, so called because it occurs in the ethereal salt of lauric acid.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek θανάσιμος
- θανάσιμος (thanásimos)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Arabic مُمِيت
- مُمِيت (mumīt)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Bulgarian смъртоно́сен, смъ́ртен
- смъртоно́сен (smărtonósen)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- смъ́ртен (smắrten)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- лета́лен (letálen)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Catalan letal, mortal
- letalof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- mortalof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Chinese Mandarin 致命的, 致死的
- 致命的 (zhìmìng de)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- 致死的 (zhìsǐdē)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Czech smrtící, smrtonosný
- smrtícíof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- smrtonosnýof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- smrtelnýof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Dutch dodelijk, letaal
- dodelijkof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- letaalof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Esperanto mortiga
- mortigaof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Finnish kuolettava, tappava
- kuolettavaof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- tappavaof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- letaaliof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
French létal, léthal
- létalof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- léthalof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- mortelof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- fatalof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
German tödlich, letal
- tödlichof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- letalof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Greek φονικός, θανατηφόρος
- φονικός (fonikós)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- θανατηφόρος (thanatifóros)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Indonesian letal
- letalof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Irish marfach
- marfachof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Italian letale
- letaleof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Japanese 必殺の, 致命的な
- 必殺の (hissatsu no)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- 致命的な (chimeiteki na)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- 致死の (chishi no)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Korean 치명적인, 치사의
- 치명적인 (chimyeongjeog-in)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- 치사의 (chisaui)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Latin mortifer, mortiferus
- mortiferof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- mortiferusof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- lētālisof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- lēthālisof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Polish letalny, śmiertelny
- letalnyof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- śmiertelnyof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- śmiercionośnyof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Portuguese fatal, letal
- fatalof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- letalof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- mortalof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Russian смерте́льный, смертоно́сный
- смерте́льный (smertélʹnyj)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- смертоно́сный (smertonósnyj)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- лета́льный (letálʹnyj)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Slovak smrteľný, smrtonosný
- smrteľnýof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- smrtonosnýof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- smrtiaciof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Spanish letal
- letalof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Swedish dödlig, livsfarlig
- dödligof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- livsfarligof, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Ukrainian смерте́льний, смертоно́сний
- смерте́льний (smertélʹnyj)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- смертоно́сний (smertonósnyj)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
- лета́льний (letálʹnyj)of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
lethal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lethal
MLA
“lethal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lethal. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lethal,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lethal.
Source: lethal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.