deadly
Americanadjective
-
causing or tending to cause death; fatal; lethal.
a deadly poison.
-
aiming to kill or destroy; implacable.
a deadly enemy.
-
like death.
a deadly pallor.
-
excruciatingly boring.
The dinner party was absolutely deadly.
-
deadly haste.
-
extremely accurate.
Annie Oakley was a deadly shot.
adverb
-
in a manner resembling or suggesting death.
deadly pale.
-
excessively; completely.
deadly dull.
adjective
-
likely to cause death
deadly poison
deadly combat
-
informal extremely boring
adverb
Related Words
See fatal.
Other Word Forms
- deadliness noun
- nondeadly adjective
Etymology
Origin of deadly
First recorded before 900; Middle English deedli(ch), Old English dēadlīce; dead, -ly
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.
The planes have been used since the late 1960s, and have been involved in several deadly crashes.
From BBC
The trend continued into the 1990s, with the likes of Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling and John Smoltz deploying it with deadly effectiveness.
Braids were a little more deadly with his long hair than the man bun he was currently rocking.
From Literature
The fungi were a stunning blue, the color of a bitter-cold sky, but that lovely exterior hid a deadly poison.
From Literature
“We’re on track now to have the deadliest year in ICE history for people detained in their custody,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
