Definition

1. Noun:
   • The quality of being deadly; the capacity to cause death: "Lethality" refers to the inherent property or degree of effectiveness of something (e.g., a weapon, disease, or chemical) in causing death.

Usage

• "Lethality" is a formal and technical term, most commonly used in scientific, medical, military, and public safety contexts.
• It is an uncountable noun, so it is not typically used in the plural form.
• It describes a or , not a specific act of killing.

Examples

• The lethality of the new virus strain is a major concern for global health authorities.
• Military engineers are constantly assessing the lethality of new weapon systems.
• The study compared the lethality of various snake venoms.
• Advances in medicine have reduced the lethality of many previously fatal diseases.

Advanced Usage

• "High/Low lethality": A common collocation describing the degree of deadliness.
  • The chemical agent has a very high lethality, even in small doses.
• "Case fatality rate" vs. "Lethality": In epidemiology, "case fatality rate" is a specific measure of the proportion of diagnosed cases that result in death, while "lethality" is a more general term for the deadly nature of the disease.

Variants and Related Words

• Lethal (adj): Deadly; sufficient to cause death.
  • The substance is lethal to insects.
• Non-lethality (n): The quality of not being designed to cause death (often used for weapons or force).
  • The police used non-lethality measures to disperse the crowd.

Synonyms

• Deadliness: The state or quality of being deadly.
• Fatalness: The capacity to cause death or disaster.
• Mortality (in specific contexts): The state of being subject to death; the death rate.

Antonyms

• Harmlessness: The quality of being unable or unlikely to cause harm.
• Safety: The condition of being protected from danger or risk.

Noun

1. the quality of being deadly