deem

American  

[deem] / dim /

verb (used without object)

• deems,
  present (3rd person singular)
• deemed,
  past participle,  past
• deeming
  present participle

1. to form or have an opinion; judge; think.

   He did not deem lightly of the issue.

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verb (used with object)

• deems,
  present (3rd person singular)
• deemed,
  past participle,  past
• deeming
  present participle

1. to hold as an opinion; think; regard as.

   He deemed it wise to refuse the offer.

   Synonyms:

   believe, hold, consider

deem British  

/ diːm /

verb

1. (tr) to judge or consider

   I do not deem him worthy of this honour

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• deeming
  present
• deemed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• deem
  simple
• deems
  simple
• have deemed
  perfect
• has deemed
  perfect
• am deeming
  progressive
• are deeming
  progressive
• is deeming
  progressive
• have been deeming
  perfect progressive
• has been deeming
  perfect progressive

Past

• deemed
  simple
• had deemed
  perfect
• was deeming
  progressive
• were deeming
  progressive
• had been deeming
  perfect progressive

Future

• will deem
  simple
• will have deemed
  perfect
• will be deeming
  progressive
• will have been deeming
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of deem

First recorded before 900; Middle English demen, Old English dēman; cognate with Gothic dōmjan, Old High German tuomen; see doom

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Explanation

To deem is a verb that means to view as or judge. Your parents or boss may deem something necessary that you don't, like coming home by midnight or working late. Deem comes from the Old English word, deman — meaning "act as a judge." If you deem something, you essentially become the judge of whether it has a characteristic. For example, if you deem your little sister's jokes to be too ridiculous to listen to, you will probably just walk away.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

deem deems deemed deeming

If the National Party wins enough seats to govern, Luxon's second term will focus on growing international trade while continuing to cut back on what the coalition deem unnecessary costs in government.

From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026

Proponents hold that estrangement is being destigmatized, not necessarily happening more often, and that it can be needed and healing for adult children to cut off parents they deem harmful.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

But some experts say they could also be a statement on which pockets of the AI hardware sector investors deem resilient.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

“The thinking in its simplest form is what do we deem the best for our football players and for them to try and be at their best,” McVay said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

“If we should wed by Westerosi rites ...” “The gods of Ghis would deem it no true union.”

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

It also gave its Opus series of models the capacity to end conversations with humans in rare instances when it deems the conversation abusive or harmful.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

Yet he remains frustrated with cadres he deems are not implementing his orders.

From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026

The people he deems “weirdos” far outnumber those in his narrow category, presumably of non-weirdos, many times over.

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026

The Guardian deems it a "four-star return to the castle".

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

I sit at the same table I always sit at, where Camille and everyone she deems worthy sits, too.

From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender

The houses, which were both bought in the last three months, are among nine properties in the area deemed to be at risk of coastal erosion.

From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026

He should have nothing but support from the bipartisan coalition that deemed the event appalling, discriminatory and contrary to everything Pennsylvania stands for.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

Fines would increase tenfold to nearly US$800,000 a day for companies deemed non-compliant, with the ceiling on fines rising to over US$15.6 million.

From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026

The disruptions were brief, however, in part because a message board funded by the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, alerted election officials that the FBI had deemed the threats not credible.

From Salon ● Nov. 3, 2026

Perhaps they had been stripped to ensure that they hadn’t stolen anything, and now, deemed clean, they were being sent away on a bus?

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers

City officials on Tuesday “red-tagged” seven of those homes in the Capistrano Bay District community, deeming them unsafe for residents, and two others were “yellow-tagged,” signifying some safety concerns, according to Dana Point officials.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

You have three options: First, if you claim now at 64, your benefit is permanently reduced, and because of the aforementioned deeming rules.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

Netflix has not published an update on its subscriber count since the first quarter of 2025, deeming the once closely followed metric too volatile.

From Barron's ● Jul. 16, 2026

The three judges also found that the original judge had erred by not deeming Tickle's removal from the app based on Grover's "first visual review" of the profile picture as direct discrimination.

From BBC ● May 15, 2026

I watched the news unfold on TV with my mom: Trayvon, a black high school student, was walking home from a convenience store when a man named George Zimmerman began following him, deeming him suspicious.

From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana

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