mortal
1 of 3adjective
mor·tal ˈmȯr-tᵊl 
1
: causing or having caused death : fatal
a mortal injury
2
a
: subject to death
mortal man
Every living creature is mortal.
b
: possible, conceivable
have done every mortal thing
c
: deadly sense 3
waited three mortal hours
3
: marked by unrelenting hostility
a mortal enemy
4
: marked by great intensity or severity
mortal fear
5
: human
mortal limits
a nobody with an all too mortal longing to be a somebody 
Time
Time6
: of, relating to, or connected with death
mortal agony
mortal
2 of 3adverb
chiefly dialectal
: mortally
mortal
3 of 3noun
: a human being
Synonyms
Adjective
- baleful
- deadly
- deathly
- fatal
- fell
- killer
- lethal
- murderous
- pestilent
- terminal
- vital
Noun
- baby
- being
- bird
- bod [British]
- body
- character
- cookie
- cooky
- creature
- customer
- devil
- duck
- egg
- face
- fish
- guy
- head
- human
- human being
- individual
- life
- man
- party
- person
- personage
- scout
- slob
- sort
- soul
- specimen
- stiff
- thing
- wight
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Adjective Every living creature is mortal. He suffered a mortal wound in the battle. Noun stories about gods interfering in the lives of mortals the troubles that come to ordinary mortals
Recent Examples on the Web Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2022 Ingrid Thulin)—and keeping his different fake stories straight with both of them is a matter not of mere jealousy but of mortal danger. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2022 Despite the emergence of a tremendously destabilizing weapon—a mortal threat to every nation with a coastline—America has done very little. Craig Hooper, Forbes, 3 Aug. 2022 The relationship between reader and writer, holier than any relationship between flesh-and-blood creatures, is the only relationship that will tolerate no mortal ending. Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 25 July 2022 Whether the offense remains mortal this season will depend largely on new arrivals such as Burton, Harrell, Steen and running back Jahmyr Gibbs. Mike Rodak | Mrodak@al.com, al, 25 July 2022 Even a more mortal Marvel is still playing an extremely strong and enviable hand. Brian Lowry, CNN, 25 July 2022 At 34, with his fastball topping out at a mortal 92 mph but his command impeccable, Kershaw took a perfect game into the eighth inning, just six outs away from the first perfecto of his career and just the 24th in major league history. Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 16 July 2022 Unlike his Avengers teammates Captain America and Iron Man, Thor is literally a god: He's already been around for centuries, and will surely survive long after his mortal friends have turned to dust. Christian Holub, EW.com, 9 July 2022 Michael Schuman, The Atlantic, 9 Sep. 2022 Studios and follow a half-mortal, half-god warrior named B. who has spent tens of thousands of years fighting around the globe. Clark Collis, EW.com, 23 July 2022 At Comerica Park, however, Trout is a mere mortal, sporting a .255/.342/.461 slash line over 27 games, with an .803 OPS that’s his second-worst among AL ballparks. Ryan Ford, Detroit Free Press, 19 Aug. 2022 On a night Towns was anywhere close to mortal, the Spurs might have won the game. Jeff Mcdonald, San Antonio Express-News, 14 Mar. 2022 Meet Sabrina Spellman—half witch, half mortal—who must make a choice on her 16th birthday: stay in the human world with her friends or venture to the witch world of her family. Chaise Sanders, Country Living, 27 July 2022 The butterfly is an attribute of both the heroine Psyche (the mortal made immortal) and the soul. Beth Bernstein, Forbes, 8 June 2022 The closest thing to one is Lemercier’s insistence that Dion wasn’t simply a larger-than-life icon but a mortal, too, with relatable worries about her children, her sleep schedule and, er, getting lost in her 40-room mansion. Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2022 Embedded in an experimental comedy is the tale of a tragic overreacher, a mortal who has come to assume a godlike dominion over the rest of the planet. Charles Mcnultytheater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2022 See More
Adjective
Two men, both elected to the Presidency, each claiming that the other represents a mortal threat to the Republic. Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2022 Ingrid Thulin)—and keeping his different fake stories straight with both of them is a matter not of mere jealousy but of mortal danger. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2022 Despite the emergence of a tremendously destabilizing weapon—a mortal threat to every nation with a coastline—America has done very little. Craig Hooper, Forbes, 3 Aug. 2022 The relationship between reader and writer, holier than any relationship between flesh-and-blood creatures, is the only relationship that will tolerate no mortal ending. Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 25 July 2022 Whether the offense remains mortal this season will depend largely on new arrivals such as Burton, Harrell, Steen and running back Jahmyr Gibbs. Mike Rodak | Mrodak@al.com, al, 25 July 2022 Even a more mortal Marvel is still playing an extremely strong and enviable hand. Brian Lowry, CNN, 25 July 2022 At 34, with his fastball topping out at a mortal 92 mph but his command impeccable, Kershaw took a perfect game into the eighth inning, just six outs away from the first perfecto of his career and just the 24th in major league history. Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 16 July 2022 Unlike his Avengers teammates Captain America and Iron Man, Thor is literally a god: He's already been around for centuries, and will surely survive long after his mortal friends have turned to dust. Christian Holub, EW.com, 9 July 2022 Noun
If Beijing loosened up and allowed COVID to run amok, the Chinese system would appear no better than those of loser democracies, and Xi would seem like another failing politician, a mere mortal, not the virus-fighting superhero he was painted as. Michael Schuman, The Atlantic, 9 Sep. 2022 Studios and follow a half-mortal, half-god warrior named B. who has spent tens of thousands of years fighting around the globe. Clark Collis, EW.com, 23 July 2022 At Comerica Park, however, Trout is a mere mortal, sporting a .255/.342/.461 slash line over 27 games, with an .803 OPS that’s his second-worst among AL ballparks. Ryan Ford, Detroit Free Press, 19 Aug. 2022 On a night Towns was anywhere close to mortal, the Spurs might have won the game. Jeff Mcdonald, San Antonio Express-News, 14 Mar. 2022 Meet Sabrina Spellman—half witch, half mortal—who must make a choice on her 16th birthday: stay in the human world with her friends or venture to the witch world of her family. Chaise Sanders, Country Living, 27 July 2022 The butterfly is an attribute of both the heroine Psyche (the mortal made immortal) and the soul. Beth Bernstein, Forbes, 8 June 2022 The closest thing to one is Lemercier’s insistence that Dion wasn’t simply a larger-than-life icon but a mortal, too, with relatable worries about her children, her sleep schedule and, er, getting lost in her 40-room mansion. Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2022 Embedded in an experimental comedy is the tale of a tragic overreacher, a mortal who has come to assume a godlike dominion over the rest of the planet. Charles Mcnultytheater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Adjective and Adverb
Middle English, from Anglo-French mortel, mortal, from Latin mortalis, from mort-, mors death — more at murder
Noun
see human entry 1
First Known Use
Adjective
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Adverb
15th century, in the meaning defined above
Noun
15th century, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing mortal
Kids Definition
mortal 1 of 2
adjective
mor·tal ˈmȯr-tᵊl
1
: capable of causing death
a mortal wound
2
: certain to die
We all are mortal.
3
: feeling great and lasting hatred
a mortal enemy
4
: very great or overpowering
mortal fear
5
: human entry 1 sense 1
mortal power
mortal
2 of 2noun
: a human being
Medical Definition
mortal
adjective
mor·tal ˈmȯrt-ᵊl
1
: having caused or being about to cause death : fatal
a mortal injury
2
: of, relating to, or connected with death
mortal agony
mortal 1 of 2
adjective
1
as in lethal
likely to cause or capable of causing death a mortal wound Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- lethal
- deadly
- fatal
- infective
- poisonous
- infectious
- deathly
- killer
- murderous
- terminal
- harmful
- toxic
- dangerous
- fell
- pestilent
- hazardous
- baleful
- destructive
- injurious
- pernicious
- baneful
- vital
- perilous
- serious
- deleterious
- grave
- virulent
- grievous
- pestilential
- noxious
- bloody
- risky
- ugly
- sanguinary
- menacing
- threatening
- parlous
- unhealthy
- truculent
- sanguine
- jeopardizing
- sublethal
- internecine
- unsound
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- healthful
- healthy
- nonfatal
- wholesome
- beneficial
- salubrious
- salutary
- nonlethal
- remedial
- curative
- restorative
- beneficial
- tonic
- advantageous
- useful
- corrective
- alleviative
- safe
- nonpoisonous
- nontoxic
2
as in deadly
of, relating to, or suggestive of death a wounded soldier writhing in mortal agony Synonyms & Similar Words
- deadly
- dead
- deathly
- spectral
- lethal
- murderous
- phantom
- fatal
- mortuary
- fell
- ghostly
- cadaverous
- lifeless
- quiescent
- still
- inert
- killer
- inactive
- ghostlike
- macabre
- inoperative
- pestilent
- baleful
- fateful
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- breathing
- active
- living
- live
- alive
- animate
- vital
- gay
- animated
- vigorous
- energetic
- spirited
- whole
- vivacious
- frisky
- pert
- sprightly
- lively
- perky
- well
- healthy
- springy
- brisk
- bouncing
- wholesome
- sound
- spanking
- jazzy
- hale
- peppy
- jaunty
- racy
- zippy
- sparky
- fit
- hearty
- robust
- snappy
- sprightful
- chipper
- able-bodied
3
as in human
relating to or characteristic of human beings just an ordinary guy with all the usual mortal limitations Synonyms & Similar Words
- human
- natural
- earthborn
- anthropoid
- humanoid
- hominid
- humanlike
- creatural
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- divine
- nonhuman
- immortal
- superhuman
- godlike
- supernatural
- angelic
- preternatural
- supernormal
- omnipotent
- angelical
- animal
- omniscient
- brute
- bestial
- beastly
- inhuman
- robotic
- subhuman
- infrahuman
4
as in hostile
marked by opposition or ill will have always had a mortal aversion to narcissistic people Synonyms & Similar Words
- hostile
- negative
- adversary
- adverse
- opposed
- antagonistic
- unpleasant
- inhospitable
- unfavorable
- contentious
- inimical
- conflicting
- adversarial
- antipathetic
- unfriendly
- icy
- jaundiced
- unsympathetic
- distant
- malignant
- militant
- disagreeable
- frigid
- malicious
- resisting
- belligerent
- contrary
- combative
- malevolent
- bellicose
- pugnacious
- cold
- antisocial
- truculent
- quarrelsome
- disputatious
- clashing
- unkind
- prejudiced
- hateful
- surly
- virulent
- malign
- unmannerly
- vindictive
- bitter
- spiteful
- impertinent
- scrappy
- argumentative
- inconsiderate
- uncivil
- unsociable
- rude
- discourteous
- opprobrious
- disapproving
- biased
- acrimonious
- impolite
- rancorous
- unloving
- cool
- despiteful
- ill-bred
- ill-mannered
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- social
- sympathetic
- civil
- hospitable
- amiable
- friendly
- nonhostile
- pleasant
- genial
- gracious
- nonantagonistic
- warm
- companionable
- affable
- kind
- neighborly
- cordial
- loving
- convivial
- sweet
- gregarious
- sociable
- affectionate
- amicable
- comradely
- benign
- agreeable
- kindly
- good-natured
- understanding
- devoted
- good-tempered
- favorable
- accepting
- empathetic
- nice
- welcoming
- warmhearted
- approving
mortal
2 of 2noun
as in person
a member of the human race just an ordinary mortal living an ordinary life Synonyms & Similar Words
- person
- life
- man
- human
- creature
- guy
- soul
- individual
- thing
- being
- body
- bird
- personage
- devil
- wight
- baby
- fish
- sort
- character
- human being
- customer
- egg
- face
- specimen
- bod
- duck
- stiff
- personality
- scout
- party
- cookie
- fellow
- cooky
- homo
- son of man
- slob
- humanoid
- self
- brother
- head
- hominid
- neighbor
- celebrity
- somebody
- fellowman
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- animal
- brute
- beast
- critter
- beastie
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of mortal are deadly, fatal, and lethal. While all these words mean "causing or capable of causing death," mortal implies that death has occurred or is inevitable.
a mortal wound
While in some cases nearly identical to mortal, deadly applies to an established or very likely cause of death.
a deadly disease
The words fatal and mortal can be used in similar contexts, but fatal stresses the inevitability of what has in fact resulted in death or destruction.
fatal consequences
In some situations, the words lethal and mortal are roughly equivalent. However, lethal applies to something that is bound to cause death or exists for the destruction of life.
lethal gas