Fateful — Fate ful, a. . Having the power of serving or accomplishing fate. The fateful steel. J. Barlow. [1913 Webster] 2. Significant of fate; ominous. [1913 Webster] The fateful cawings of the crow. Longfellow. {Fate ful*ly}, adv. {Fate ful*ness}, n.… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
fateful — [adj1] significant acute, apocalyptic, conclusive, critical, crucial, decisive, determinative, direful, doomful, eventful, important, inauspicious, momentous, ominous, portentous, resultful; concept 568 Ant. insignificant, unimportant fateful… … New thesaurus
fateful — index critical (crucial), fatal, key, major, momentous, necessary (inescapable), portentous ( … Law dictionary
fateful — 1710s, prophetic, from FATE (Cf. fate) + FUL (Cf. ful). Meaning of momentous consequences is from c.1800. Related: Fatefully … Etymology dictionary
fateful — Cminous, portentous, inauspicious, unpropitious Analogous words: momentous, significant, important (see corresponding nouns at IMPORTANCE): decisive, determinative, *conclusive: crucial, critical, *acute … New Dictionary of Synonyms
fateful — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ having far reaching and typically disastrous consequences. DERIVATIVES fatefully adverb fatefulness noun … English terms dictionary
fateful — [fātfəl] adj. 1. revealing what is to come; prophetic 2. having important consequences; significant; decisive 3. controlled as if by fate 4. Obs. bringing death or destruction SYN. OMINOUS fatefully adv. fatefulness n … English World dictionary
fateful — fatal, fateful Both words have to do with the workings of fate, and their complex histories, fully explored by the OED, have often intertwined. Fowler (1926) wrote a fond defence of the special meaning of fateful, ‘having far reaching… … Modern English usage
fateful — fate|ful [ˈfeıtfəl] adj [usually before noun] having an important, especially bad, effect on future events fateful day/night/year etc ▪ The goalkeeper on that fateful day in 1954 was Fred Martin of Aberdeen. ▪ When his rent was raised, he made… … Dictionary of contemporary English
fateful — adjective Date: circa 1720 1. having a quality of ominous prophecy < a fateful remark > 2. a. involving momentous consequences ; decisive < made his fateful decision to declare war W. L. Shirer > b. deadly, catastrophic 3. controlled by fate … New Collegiate Dictionary
fateful — fate|ful [ feıtfəl ] adjective a fateful action, event, or time is one that has an important and usually bad effect on what happens in the future: Since that fateful day her life had not been worth living … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
