Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

lethal

/ˈliː.θəl/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.86 in modern English

Syllables
lethal
IPA
/ˈliː.θəl/
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal.

noun

Any weapon that causes death.

noun

An allele that causes the death of the organism that carries it.

noun

One of the higher alcohols of the paraffine series obtained from spermaceti as a white crystalline solid.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

Etymology

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”).

Usage

Inflected Forms

more lethal (comparative) most lethal (superlative) lethals (plural)

Derived Forms

colethal cytolethal haplolethal hyperlethal lethality lethally lethalness nonlethal semilethal sublethal superlethal supralethal

Phrases

coat color dilution lethal less-lethal less-than-lethal lethal allele lethal chamber lethal congenital contracture syndrome lethal dose lethal gene

Frequently Paired Words

nonlethality semilethality sublethality sublethally

Synonyms

deadly

Antonyms

non-lethal

Rhymes With

nonlethal

Questions

How do you pronounce lethal?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈliː.θəl/.
What does lethal mean?
Of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal.
Where does lethal come from?
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”).

How to pronounce lethal

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “lethal”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈliː.θəl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “lethal”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “lethal” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.