英語詞匯

表示“致死的”、“致命的”的形容詞

嘉中

deadly 、fatal、lethal、mortal 這組形容詞都可表示“致死的”、“致命的”意思。

deadly 普通用詞，指極為可能致命的或致死的。

例句：

A single leakage of a radioactive substance, however tiny, can be deadly so extreme

caution must be exercised.

放射性物質泄漏, 無論多麼少量，都可能是致命的，因此必須高度謹慎。

The police are looking into last week's deadly gas explosions.

警方正在調查上周的致命毒氣爆炸事件

The cyclist was knocked down by a lorry and received a deadly injury.

騎車人被一輛卡車撞倒，受瞭致命的傷。

The sheets were burning around me and I was trapped in a deadly circle of flames.

床單在我周圍燃燒，我被困在一個致命的火焰圈中。

However, the autopsy results show that he was suffering from pneumonia, tuberculosis

and trichinosis, a deadly combination.

然而，屍檢結果顯示，他患有肺炎、肺結核和旋毛蟲病，這是一種致命的組合。

fatal 指可能導致或已經導致死亡的，也可表示一事對另一事是毀滅性的或災難性的。

例句：

Diarrhea is one of the most common fatal childhood diseases worldwide.

痢疾是世界范圍內兒童常見致死疾病之一。

It is a form of anaemia which is nearly always fatal if left untreated.

這是一種貧血，如果不治療幾乎總是致命的。

The police are investigating a fatal car crash that occurred last night.

警方正在調查昨晚發生的一起造成死亡車禍。

The event proved to be fatal to his political future.

這次事件對他的政治前途證明是致命的。

He made the fatal error of believing what they told him.

他聽信瞭他們的話，犯瞭致命的錯誤。

lethal 隻用於指確定能致死的事物，如 lethal gas (毒氣)、lethal dose (致命劑量)。

例句：

Three minutes after the fire started, the house was full of lethal fumes.

起火3分鐘後，房子裡充滿瞭致命的毒氣。

In the car the police found guns, knives, and other lethal weapons.

警察在車裡找到瞭槍支、刀具及其他一些兇器。

A 59-year-old man was executed by lethal injection this morning.

今晨一位59歲的男性罪犯被執行註射死刑。

Health authorities fear that this strain could cause a new lethal flu pandemic.

衛生部門擔心這種菌株會引起新的致命流感流行。

Dozens of people queue in hot sun outside to return milk powder that could be

contaminated with a potentially lethal chemical.

有幾十人在炎熱的太陽外面排隊要求退回被化學物質污染的可能引起死亡的奶粉。

Such a hostile chemical environment would likely prove lethal to all known microbes.

這樣惡劣的化學環境對所有已知的微生物都是致命的。

Although scorpion stings can be devastatingly painful, they are not usually lethal to

humans.

雖然蠍子的叮咬會帶來毀滅性的痛苦，但對人類來說通常不是致命的。

mortal 正式用詞，用法類同fatal，可換用。mortal 的名詞是 mortality，較death正式，常指

“死亡率”或“死亡數目”。

例句：

He got a mortal（fatal）blow on the head and died soon after.

他頭部被人致命一擊,不久便去世瞭。

The new device has a mortal （fatal） flaw: it will cease functioning at an 、

extremely high temperature.

這種新裝置有一個致命的缺陷，在極高溫下會停止運行。

Infant mortality（death rate）is still very high in some developing countries.

某些發展中國傢的嬰兒死亡率仍然很高。

Particulate air pollution is closely associated with cardiovascular mortality and morbidity.

微塵空氣污染與心血管疾病的發病率和死亡率密切相關。