Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The doctrine that all events are predetermined by fate and are therefore unalterable.
  • noun Acceptance of the belief that all events are predetermined and inevitable.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The doctrine that all things are subject to fate, or come or go by inevitable predetermination.
  • noun A disposition to regard everything as the result of or predetermined by fate; the acceptance of all conditions and events as inevitable.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The doctrine that all things are subject to fate, or that they take place by inevitable necessity.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun fate, fatality, the doctrine that all events are subject to fate or inevitable necessity, or determined in advance in such a way that human beings cannot change them.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a philosophical doctrine holding that all events are predetermined in advance for all time and human beings are powerless to change them
  • noun a submissive mental attitude resulting from acceptance of the doctrine that everything that happens is predetermined and inevitable

Etymologies

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Examples

  • I learned the word fatalism at a young age and after I got over the idea that it meant something about death, I grew very attached to it.

    The Kitchen Daughter Jael McHenry 2011

  • I learned the word fatalism at a young age and after I got over the idea that it meant something about death, I grew very attached to it.

    The Kitchen Daughter Jael McHenry 2011

  • At the same time, fatalism is not an essential precondition.

    A Progressive on the Prairie » Book Review: Dark Heart of the Night by Léonora Miano » Print 2010

  • At the same time, fatalism is not an essential precondition.

    Book Review: Dark Heart of the Night by Léonora Miano « A Progressive on the Prairie 2010

  • But with the resignation of her faith, which some call fatalism, and with the obedience which German life demands from all women, even those of the highest station, she had accepted her destiny.

    The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte Vol. III. (of IV.) William Milligan Sloane 1889

  • “What we call fatalism,” M. Bergson says, “is only the revenge of nature on man's will when the mind puts too much strain upon the flesh or acts as if it did not exist.

    Georges Guynemer Bordeaux, Henry, 1870- 1918

  • "What we call fatalism," M. Bergson says, "is only the revenge of nature on man's will when the mind puts too much strain upon the flesh or acts as if it did not exist.

    Georges Guynemer Knight of the Air Henry Bordeaux 1916

  • Perhaps it's just your protective Saints fatalism, which is perfectly understandable, but I think both national AND local sports media is underestimating how good this New Orleans team is going to be.

    Archive 2007-01-01 2007

  • The prep and procedures are there to stack the odds in their favour, and the fatalism is a coping mechanism against the certainty that sometimes the bad guys beat really, really long odds.

    Archive 2007-07-01 2007

  • The prep and procedures are there to stack the odds in their favour, and the fatalism is a coping mechanism against the certainty that sometimes the bad guys beat really, really long odds.

    IED success rates 2007

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