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
: a human being
Examples of mortal in a Sentence
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
Gary J. Bass, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2025
And with that, the master of Tang Soo Do shuffles off this mortal coil!
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 13 Feb. 2025
Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2025
But Reagan—and her family—inhabit a different realm than us mortals.
—Maya Silver, Outside Online, 12 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mortal
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Adjective
The most devastating testimony came from Auschwitz survivors, one of whom described the mortal terror of people in the gas chambers, some taking 10 or more minutes to die, struggling frantically, their corpses covered in blood from their noses and ears.
—Gary J. Bass, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2025
And with that, the master of Tang Soo Do shuffles off this mortal coil!
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 13 Feb. 2025
Noun
The character combines the entitlement of Brice in No Way Out and the alienation from normal human behavior that becomes a comic spectacle in The Birdcage with a level of darkness that wouldn’t be out of place in a David Lynch production about evil forces possessing mortals.
—Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2025
But Reagan—and her family—inhabit a different realm than us mortals.
—Maya Silver, Outside Online, 12 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mortal
Cite this Entry
“Mortal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mortal. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
mortal
1 of 2 adjective
mor·tal
ˈmȯrt-ᵊl 
1
: capable of causing death
a mortal wound
2
: certain to die
animals are mortal
3
: extremely unfriendly
a mortal enemy
4
: very great or severe
in mortal fear
5
: human entry 1 sense 1
mortal limitations
6
: of, relating to, or connected with death
mortal agony
mortally
adverb
-ᵊl-ē
mortal
2 of 2 noun
: a human being
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