fatalistic

American

[feyt-l-is-tik] / ˌfeɪt lˈɪs tɪk /

Also fatalist

adjective

demonstrating a belief that all events are inevitable, so one’s choices and actions make no difference.

Fear, uncertainty, and a feeling of powerlessness contribute to a fatalistic attitude among many refugees when it comes to seeking justice.
Philosophy. advancing the idea that all events are naturally predetermined or subject to fate.

A fatalistic view, which denies the possibility of free will, makes some sense scientifically.

Other Word Forms

fatalistically adverb
nonfatalistic adjective
quasi‐fatalistic adjective
quasi‐fatalistically adverb
unfatalistic adjective
unfatalistically adverb

Etymology

Origin of fatalistic

fatalist ( def. ) + -ic

Explanation

Use the adjective fatalistic to describe someone who believes outcomes are determined in advance and can't be changed. If you think there’s no way you can pass your math exam and studying won’t change anything, then you’re fatalistic. When you pronounce fatalistic, you can hear the word fate. That’s a clue that fatalistic is in some way related to fate — as in destiny. A fatalistic person believes in destiny: whatever is meant to happen will happen. Fatalistic often relates to bad things. If someone has a fatalistic attitude toward a situation, chances are that means the person is expecting things to turn out badly and sees no point in trying to change that outcome.

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Vocabulary lists containing fatalistic

To Kill a Mockingbird

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The Diary of a Young Girl

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In the Time of the Butterflies

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Still, he urged students not to be fatalistic about it.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

They’re a rejoinder to all the fatalistic commentary about tanking and how “being bad to get better” is an accepted reality of the NBA.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 2, 2026

Mays, in the time I’ve known him, has been realistic rather than fatalistic.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 4, 2025

Eleven years on, she has gone back to hospital to give birth several times and takes a fatalistic attitude.

From BBC • Jun. 2, 2025

At that very same moment, the thieves disappeared, and the only sound Mr. van D. could hear was the frightened pounding of his fatalistic wife’s heart.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023