Lethal Meaning
/ˈliː.θəl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal.
nounAny weapon that causes death.
Sentence Examples
The court condemned the man to death by lethal injection.
Apparently ice is lethal!
She had been given a lethal dose of poison.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The venom of this spider is ____; it can cause death within hours.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Certain types of mushrooms can be ____ if they are eaten, so you should only collect ones that you know are safe.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The venom of this spider is ____; it can cause death within hours.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Certain types of mushrooms can be ____ if they are eaten, so you should only collect ones that you know are safe.