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

Etymology

Origin of deem

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

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

Proponents of the trend hold that advising patients to consider a cutoff from a close relative or spouse they deem toxic or unsupportive can protect their mental health and allow for emotional growth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

The estate may not be divided equally among the children — or in ways they deem fair.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026

Recent polling suggests that, ahead of Tuesday’s primary, incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has what pollsters deem a statistically insignificant lead in her bid for reelection as the city’s top executive.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026

The panel in Nicole's case partially upheld two complaints about her coach, but ultimately did not deem the coach to be a current safeguarding risk.

From BBC ● May 21, 2026

“Yes! I think her involvement will really get some of the more popular students to participate. By ‘popular,’ I mean those students that fit a construct of what high school-aged peers deem to be cool.

From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan

Cloud is another business Lapping deems ripe for disintermediation by China.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026

He added the agreement allows Israel freedom of action to neutralize what it deems as immediate or even emerging threats.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

"He's running onto it, straight towards goal. It's 100% an obvious goalscoring opportunity. If the referee deems it a foul, he has to send him off."

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026

The CMA deems Google’s search service to have strategic market status, which allows the regulator to introduce targeted requirements on how it operates.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026

He deems young people who are raised on digital devices “Generation D.”

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

The information shared with the U.S. was vague, administration officials said, and not deemed entirely credible by many members of the president’s staff.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

At the end of April, the group said it had reinstated a regional parliament, which had been deemed illegitimate.

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

The threat was deemed to be a swatting call, in which a person reports a fake threat to illicit panic and a large emergency response, she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

Westminster City Council will have to inspect the wall and if the removal is deemed incomplete, another cleaning method will have to be used.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

Hyacinth sifted through a stack of boxes Mama had deemed too small to be useful for the move.

From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser

He faces opposition in particular from UEFA, which on Thursday stood by its threat to boycott the World Cups, deeming the mere withdrawal of the controversial plan to be insufficient.

From Barron's ● Aug. 8, 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

The SBA inspector general later recommended that all awards to talent agents be reviewed or audited, deeming them “high-risk.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026

Raman and Pratt are right in deeming Bass the old guard of a beat-up city — but the old guard didn’t get there without knowing how to win.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026

The doctors didn’t remove the bullet, deeming it unsafe, so it remained lodged in Roosevelt’s fourth rib, just an inch away from his right lung.

From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple

Related Words

• allow
• assume
• believe
• expect
• feel
• presume
• suppose
• suspect