Standard Lemma guide

fateful

adj · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈfeɪtfəl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪtfəl
  • CMU ARPABET: F EY1 T F AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Momentous, significant, setting or sealing one’s fate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • It started with that fateful trip, history was never the same afterwards.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: consequential, necessary, big, central, critical, crucial, epochful, essential, extraordinary, fateful, fatefraught, fatesome, heavy, pivotal, high on the totem pole, historic, innegligible, key, life-or-death, meaningful, noted, noticeable, observable, outstanding, paramount, pertinent, relevant, remarkable, salient, significant, unignorable, valuable, vital, weighty

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Determined in advance by fate, fated.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: foreordained, predestined, bashert, destined, doomed, fated, fateful, fatidic, predevote, preordained, weird

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

controlled or decreed by fate; predetermined

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a fatal series of events

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fatal

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

having momentous consequences; of decisive importance- Saturday Rev

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • that fateful meeting of the U.N. when...it declared war on North Korea
  • the fatal day of the election finally arrived

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fatal

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

(of events) having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; bringing ruin- Charles Darwin- Douglas MacArthur

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • 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
  • it is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it
  • a fateful error

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: black, calamitous, disastrous, fatal

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

ominously prophetic

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: foreboding(a), portentous

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From fate + -ful.

Across languages

Translations

32 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: حَاسِم (ḥāsim) — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Arabic: مَصِيرِيّ (maṣīriyy) — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Azerbaijani: taleyüklü — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Bulgarian: съдбоносен (sǎdbonosen) — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Bulgarian: съдбовен (sǎdboven) — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Czech: osudný — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Czech: osudový — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Danish: skæbnesvanger — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Dutch: noodlottig — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Finnish: kohtalokas — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • French: décisif — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • German: schicksalhaft — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • German: verhängnisvoll — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Italian: fatidico — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Latin: fatidicus — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Māori: aituā — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Polish: doniosły — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Polish: nieuchronny — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Polish: rozstrzygający — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Portuguese: fatídico — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Russian: роково́й (rokovój) — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Russian: судьбоно́сный (sudʹbonósnyj) — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Spanish: funesto — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Swedish: ödesdiger — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Ukrainian: долено́сний (dolenósnyj) — momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate
  • Bulgarian: предопределен (predopredelen) — determined in advance by fate, fated
  • Bulgarian: неизбежен (neizbežen) — determined in advance by fate, fated
  • French: fatidique — determined in advance by fate, fated
  • German: vorbestimmt — determined in advance by fate, fated
  • Latin: fatidicus — determined in advance by fate, fated
  • Swedish: ödesbestämd — determined in advance by fate, fated
  • Swedish: förutbestämd — determined in advance by fate, fated