fatality
/feɪˈtælɪti/noun
fatality is spelled F-A-T-A-L-I-T-Y: 8 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,536th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, fatality means “The state proceeding from destiny; invincible necessity, superior to, and independent of, free and rational control” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of fatality is fatalities.
How many letters and syllables are in fatality?
| Letters | 8: F-A-T-A-L-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 23,536th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is fatality?
Fatality appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,536th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce fatality?
- US /feɪˈtælɪti/
- US [feɪ̯ˈtʰælɪɾi]
- US /fə-/
Fatality has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-fatality.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-fatality.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with fatality?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as fatality from its last stressed vowel (/ælɪti/):
- mortality
- homosexuality
- locality
- legality
- totality
- sensuality
- tonality
- partiality
- cardinality
- instrumentality
- externality
- sodality
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of fatality
- fatalities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does fatality mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The state proceeding from destiny; invincible necessity, superior to, and independent of, free and rational control.
- 2
Tendency to death, destruction or danger, as if by decree of fate.
- 3
That which is decreed by fate or which is fatal; a fatal event.
- 4
Death.
- 5
An accident that causes death.
- 6
A person killed.
- 7
A move used to deliver a coup de grâce to a defeated opponent.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does fatality come from?
From French fatalité. equivalent to fatal + -ity. The video game move sense was popularized by the Mortal Kombat series.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).