doomed

American  

[doomd] / dumd /

adjective

1. destined, or seemingly destined, especially to an adverse fate.

   Math wizards were able to pinpoint the final resting place of the doomed jet deep beneath the ocean.

2. judged guilty and sentenced, especially to death; condemned.

   Several times today and tonight the doomed man has wept like a child in his prison cell.

3. ordained or fixed, as a sentence or fate.

   In this age of finding everything online, it won’t be long before seed catalogs suffer the same doomed fate as most gardening magazines.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of doom.

Other Word Forms

• self-doomed
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of doomed

doom + -ed ² ( def. )

Explanation

The doomed are people marked by very bad luck, particularly death. When you learn about a tragedy, like a tsunami that kills many people, it makes you feel terrible for the doomed. Doomed is a plural noun for referring to a group of unfortunate people, and it's also an adjective describing someone who's destined to die. A runaway dog that kills the animal control officer's pet chickens is doomed, and many characters in Shakespeare's tragic plays are doomed. You can also follow doomed with "to" to mean "destined" or "fated." Your uncle might be doomed to continue working as a school bus driver for the rest of his career.

Example Sentences

In fact, I’m writing this with my eyes closed just in case I veer into a Why We’re Doomed essay.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2024

Doomed to serve ideology and bear the heavy burden of the arms race, it was strained to the utmost.

From Reuters • Aug. 30, 2022

Doomed to exclusion and obscurity were his three earlier efforts, which in addition to “Rienzi” include “Die Feen,” a work never performed in Wagner’s lifetime, and “Das Liebesverbot,” from 1836.

From New York Times • Jun. 26, 2022

While CNN Plus already accelerated through the Go90 Scale of Doomed Streaming Services in record time, it has somehow managed to shave another two days off of its lifespan.

From The Verge • Apr. 27, 2022

The note Doomed again: and then at his firmer pressure, the note, fluking up an octave, became a strident blare more penetrating than before.

From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding

Related Words

• ill-fated
• wrecked