deem

[deem]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR deem ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to form or have an opinion; judge; think: He did not deem lightly of the issue.

verb (used with object)

to hold as an opinion; think; regard: He deemed it wise to refuse the offer.

Origin of deem

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

Synonyms for deem

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR deem ON THESAURUS.COM

2. consider, hold, believe.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for deem

allow, feel, assume, suspect, expect, presume, suppose, believe, guess, appraise, surmise, calculate, reckon, divine, conceive, sense, account, conjecture, know, credit

Examples from the Web for deem

Contemporary Examples of deem

How does the world owe you a private car, priced as you deem acceptable, that didn't exist five years ago?
In Defense of Uber’s Awful Sydney Surge Pricing
Olivia Nuzzi
December 16, 2014
You rigidly avoid any food you deem to be “unhealthy,” such as those containing fat, preservatives, additives or animal products.
Orthorexia: When Healthy Eating Becomes an Obsession
DailyBurn
October 25, 2014
The panelists then proceed to screen out anyone they deem unfit for marriage.
Reality TV’s Arranged Marriage Fail
Emily Shire
July 9, 2014
Let us, through persuasion and education, seek to improve institutions we deem defective.
The Roots of the GOP’s Race Problem
Michael Tomasky
May 22, 2014
One can hardly pay literature a greater compliment than to deem it dangerous, be it said even in passing.
Norman Manea Survived the Nazis and the Communists and Lived to Write About It
Costica Bradatan
April 8, 2014

Historical Examples of deem

It was my duty to sound the pumps, but this I did not deem necessary.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
Nevertheless, clever men are less sentimental than we deem them.
Alice, or The Mysteries, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Can a woman who feels as I do deem any earthly good a sacrifice for him she loves?
Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
Deem not this collocation simply a burlesque on Scientific categories.
Life: Its True Genesis
R. W. Wright
But you would not deem it vain if you were the woman now resting on your bosom.
Vivian Grey
Earl of Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli

British Dictionary definitions for deem

deem

verb

(tr) to judge or considerI do not deem him worthy of this honour

Word Origin for deem

Old English dēman; related to Old High German tuomen to judge, Gothic domjan; see doom

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for deem

Old English deman "to judge, condemn, think, compute," from root of dom (see doom (n.)). Originally "to pronounce judgment" as well as "to form an opinion." The two judges of the Isle of Man were called deemsters in 17c., a title formerly common throughout England and Scotland and preserved in the surname Dempster.