fatality

fatality — 名詞

1. a death that results from a sudden, violent event such as a car crash, a buildin

1.名詞B2
釋義

死亡；罹難者

意外、暴力或災難中的死亡

a death that results from a sudden, violent event such as a car crash, a building fire, or an armed attack; the word can also refer to the person who dies in such an event

例句

The highway patrol reported three fatalities on the icy road near Springfield.

高速公路警察通報，Springfield 附近結冰的道路上發生三起死亡事故。

collocation: report / cause fatalities

Among the fifteen passengers on the bus, Sayaka's grandfather was the only fatality.

巴士上的十五名乘客中，Sayaka 的祖父是唯一的罹難者。

同義詞
  • death

    the general term for dying; 'fatality' is narrower, used only for accidental or violent death

  • casualty

    includes both those killed and those injured; preferred in military and disaster contexts

反義詞
  • survival

    escaping death in a dangerous situation

文法句型

fatality + from + [cause]

usually plural in news reports

用法筆記

Frequently used in the plural when reporting multiple deaths in accidents or disasters. Common in news reporting — typical collocates include 'road fatalities', 'traffic fatalities', and 'result in fatalities'.

常見錯誤

❌The accident caused three fatalities of people.
✅The accident caused three fatalities.
💡'fatality' already means a death; adding 'of people' is redundant.
❌There was a fatality of a man in the crash.
✅There was one fatality in the crash.
💡'fatality' already includes the person who died; do not add 'of a man'.

2. a measure of how likely a disease, poison, or dangerous situation is to kill the

2.名詞B2
釋義

致命性

疾病或毒物導致死亡的程度

a measure of how likely a disease, poison, or dangerous situation is to kill the people who are affected by it

例句

The fatality of the infection worried doctors because it killed nearly half of all patients.

這種感染的致命性令醫師擔憂，因為近半數患者因而死亡。

uncountable: the fatality of [disease killer]

Selim compared the fatality rates of three different flu strains for his research paper.

Selim 為了撰寫研究論文，比較了三種不同流感病毒的致死率。

collocation: fatality rate

同義詞
  • lethality

    a more technical or scientific term for the capacity to cause death

  • deadliness

    a more informal and general word for the ability to cause death

反義詞

文法句型

the fatality of [disease / poison / danger]

fatality rate

用法筆記

Uncountable in this sense — do not use 'a fatality' when you mean deadliness. The common compound 'fatality rate' refers to the proportion of deaths among all confirmed cases of a disease.

常見錯誤

❌The fatality of the disease is very strong.
✅The fatality of the disease is very high.
💡'high' and 'low' are the natural collocates for deadliness, not 'strong' or 'weak'.
❌This virus has a high fatality.
✅This virus has a high fatality rate.
💡'fatality rate' is the standard term when referring to the proportion of deaths.

3. the idea that events in life are fixed in advance and that people cannot change

3.名詞C1
釋義

宿命論；天命

相信命運已定、無法改變

the idea that events in life are fixed in advance and that people cannot change them; a feeling of accepting that bad things will happen because fate decides everything

例句

After the war, a strange fatality took hold of the survivors — they felt nothing they did mattered.

戰後，一種奇怪的宿命感籠罩著倖存者——他們覺得自己的努力毫無意義。

uncountable: sense / mood of fatality

Rohan rejected the fatality his grandfather preached and worked hard every day to improve his life.

Rohan 拒絕接受祖父宣揚的宿命論，每天努力改善自己的生活。

同義詞
  • fatalism

    the more common term for the philosophical belief that events are predetermined

  • predestination

    a specific religious doctrine within Christianity and Islam that God has decided everything in advance

反義詞
  • free will

    the belief that people can make their own choices and shape their own lives

文法句型

sense / mood of fatality

用法筆記

Uncountable and formal in this sense. Often appears in literary, philosophical, or historical writing. Distinguish from sense 1 (a countable death) — sense 3 is an abstract belief or mood, never used with numbers like 'three fatalities'.

常見錯誤

❌He has a fatality that nothing will work out.
✅He has a sense of fatality that nothing will work out.
💡this sense is uncountable and usually appears in phrases like 'sense of fatality' or 'mood of fatality'.
❌The old man believed in fatality of everything.
✅The old man believed in fatality.
💡do not add 'of everything'; 'fatality' alone expresses the full concept of predetermined fate.