deadly
/ˈdɛdli
/adjective (deadlier, deadliest)
1Causing or able to cause death: a deadly weapon...
- It is also important to remember that every driver on the highway is armed with a weapon more deadly and dangerous than any firearm: a motor vehicle.
- The 2003 death toll from the deadly virus was only one.
- In Doomsday Book the twenty-first century is stricken by yet another pandemic, almost as deadly as the Black Death was in the fourteenth.
Synonyms
fatal, lethal, mortal, death-dealing, life-threatening;
dangerous, destructive, injurious, harmful, pernicious, detrimental, deleterious, unhealthy;
noxious, toxic, poisonous;
terminal, incurable, untreatable, malignant
literary deathly, nocuous, mephitic
archaic baneful
1.1Filled with hate: his voice was cold and deadly...
- Their hate campaign is paying deadly dividends.
- An unearthly calm seemed to come over him then, and there was a feeling of deadly malice, of hate and violence radiating from him that made her flinch from his stare.
- Voice hated Azrael with a deadly passion.
Synonyms
mortal, irreconcilable, implacable, remorseless, relentless, unrelenting, unappeasable, unforgiving, merciless, pitiless;
bitter, hostile, antagonistic, murderous, fierce, grim, savage
informal at each other's throats
1.2Extremely accurate, effective, or skilful: his aim is deadly...
- Practice this in front of a mirror until you can slightly part your lips and silently hit a target with deadly accuracy.
- Each strike and block was performed with flawless, deadly accuracy.
- Hinting at the timepiece's capacity for deadly accuracy, he adds: ‘It was twenty-four minutes past midnight.’
Synonyms
unerring, unfailing, impeccable, perfect, flawless, faultless, assured, sure, true, precise, accurate, correct, exact, direct, on target, on the mark;
British inch-perfect
British informal spot on, bang on
vulgar slang shit hot
1.3British informal Extremely boring: my end of the theatre is deadly at the moment...
- Viewers today typically consider busts academic, boring, deadly; in a museum, they are what you walk past on the way to the Impressionists.
- As a result, cultural choice is increasingly restricted, and a bland sameness, deadly and soporific, threatens the cultural landscape.
- I barely even notice the battle anymore through the deadly monotony.
1.4 [attributive] Complete; total: she was in deadly earnest...
- Morgan Freeman was now speaking in deadly earnest about Rainforests as the Lungs of Our Planet.
- Byron may have been playing at soldiers, but at the same time he was in deadly earnest.
- There are things of deadly earnest that can only be mentioned under the cover of a joke.
Synonyms
intense, great, marked, extreme, excessive, immoderate, inordinate
completely, absolutely, totally, utterly, perfectly, entirely, wholly, fully, quite, dead, thoroughly;
in every way, in every respect, in all respects, one hundred per cent, every inch, to the hilt, to the core
2Irish & Australian informal Very good; excellent: it’s a great town and the pubs are deadly...
- Breakfast was deadly!! The best breakfast potatoes I think Ive ever had.
- Just like to say it was deadly today. Had great fun.
adverb [as submodifier]
1In a way resembling or suggesting death; as if dead: her skin was deadly pale...
- All the while being deadly silent, since I live with my grandmother and her bedroom is right next to the bathroom.
- The party mood was gone and everyone was deadly quiet.
- His face was deadly white, a bloody bandage swathed his neck, and his rainproof was soaked with the blood of a sniper's victim.
Synonyms
deathly, deathlike, ashen, ghostly, white, pallid, wan, pale, ghastly
1.1Extremely: a deadly serious remark...
- This joking remark caused Eisenhower to turn deadly serious.
- Elves are that way though, jolly one moment and deadly serious when the situation needs it.
- Heart failure is a deadly serious condition, but with good treatments people can double or triple their life expectancy.
Derivatives
deadliness
/ noun ...- The bomb was packed with shards of metal, nuts and bolts to increase its deadliness.
- By contrast, the deadliness of contaminants added to reservoirs or water sources would most likely be neutralized by dilution and standard water treatment.
- No one with any sense would place a trap of such deadliness so close to a populated area.
Origin
Old English dēadlīc 'mortal, in danger of death' (see dead, -ly1).