Halálos

Halálos is a Hungarian adjective meaning deadly, fatal, or lethal. It is used to describe things that cause death or have a fatal outcome, such as diseases, injuries, situations, or weapons. In medical and journalistic contexts, halálos often signals that the consequence is death, rather than merely dangerous.

The word derives from halál, meaning death, combined with the suffix -os to form an attributive adjective. It can modify nouns directly (halálos mérgezés, halálos kimenetelű betegség) or appear in fixed expressions (halálos veszély, halálos baleset). The form agrees with the noun it describes in number and gender as standard in Hungarian.

Common usages include halálos baleset (fatal accident), halálos áramütés (lethal electrocution), halálos fegyver (lethal weapon), halálos ítélet (death sentence), and halálos kimenetelű betegség (disease with a fatal outcome). In medical text, phrases like halálos kimenetel are used to indicate that death followed the illness or condition.

Notes on nuance: halálos emphasizes that death is the direct result, often in contrast to merely dangerous or harmful. It is different from gyilkos, which refers to a person who commits murder. In everyday language, halálos can be intensified in the adverbial form halálosan, used colloquially to mean “terribly” or “extremely,” as in halálosan unalmas, though this usage is informal.