doom

American  

[doom] / dum /

noun

• dooms
  plural

1. fate or destiny, especially adverse fate; unavoidable ill fortune.

   In exile and poverty, he met his doom.

2. ruin; death.

   to fall to one's doom.

3. a judgment, decision, or sentence, especially an unfavorable one.

   The judge pronounced the defendant's doom.

   Synonyms:

   fate, ruination, downfall, destruction

4. the Last Judgment, at the end of the world.

5. Obsolete. a statute, enactment, or legal judgment.

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verb (used with object)

• dooms,
  present (3rd person singular)
• doomed,
  past participle,  past
• dooming
  present participle

1. to destine, especially to an adverse fate.

   Synonyms:

   predestine, foreordain

2. to pronounce judgment against; condemn.

3. to ordain or fix as a sentence or fate.

doom British  

/ duːm /

noun

1. death or a terrible fate

2. a judgment or decision

3. (sometimes capital) another term for the Last Judgment

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verb

1. (tr) to destine or condemn to death or a terrible fate

Synonym Usage

See fate.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• predoom
  verb (used with object)
• doomy
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• dooms
  plural

Participles

• dooming
  present
• doomed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• doom
  simple
• dooms
  simple
• have doomed
  perfect
• has doomed
  perfect
• am dooming
  progressive
• are dooming
  progressive
• is dooming
  progressive
• have been dooming
  perfect progressive
• has been dooming
  perfect progressive

Past

• doomed
  simple
• had doomed
  perfect
• was dooming
  progressive
• were dooming
  progressive
• had been dooming
  perfect progressive

Future

• will doom
  simple
• will have doomed
  perfect
• will be dooming
  progressive
• will have been dooming
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of doom

First recorded before 900; Middle English dome, dōm, Old English dōm “judgment, law”; cognate with Old Norse dōmr, “judgment, sentence, court,” Gothic dōms “sentence, fame,” all from Germanic dômaz “what has been set,” from dôn “to set, place, do ¹ ( def. ) ”; compare Greek thémis “law” (i.e., “what has been set, laid down”); see deem

Explanation

Doom is death, destruction, the end of the world, the big goodbye. It can also be a verb — if a man twirling a mustache ties you to the railroad tracks, he dooms you to certain death! Doctor Doom is a comic book villain you do not want to mess with. He’s the doctor of death! If you feel that the world is terrible, you’re all doom and gloom. If someone dies, she meets her doom. People usually talk about doom as a type of fate — doom isn't an accident. When doom is a verb, watch out — being slack dooms careers and lies doom relationships. Stay away from all forms of doom.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

doom dooms doomed dooming

He says some of the projections by the stay side are all "doom and gloom", joking that the only possible negative they failed to include is "a large asteroid hitting Canada".

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

But rather than being a harbinger of doom, Emanuel says, the shift is more a reflection of how AI-related risks have seeped into other markets, such as emerging-market stocks, bonds and corporate credit.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

It might not be all doom and gloom for the retail sector.

From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026

But as it turns out, the story of chess and AI isn’t one of imminent doom.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

Millions are condemned to a stiller doom than mine, and millions are in silent revolt against their lot.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

This balancing sometimes dooms legislative changes, even when they have large budgetary effects.

From Slate ● May 29, 2025

A costly turnover coupled with a foul by LeBron James on Anthony Edwards in the final seconds dooms the Lakers to a 116-113 Game 4 loss to the Timberwolves.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2025

His thoughtful and riveting performance ensures that we never stop pulling for Andy, even after he dooms the crew’s most vulnerable but least interesting member.

From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2024

This dooms the great love of her life, with Pedro, who marries Tita’s sister just to be near her.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 20, 2023

Yet, with her prescience, she was aware of dooms and sorrows outside her lover's purview.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

"Any proposal that fails to reconcile our climate objectives with social and economic realities will be doomed to fail," said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

I don’t think you are doomed, but nor do I have tips or tricks — except to say that if you don’t talk about it, this economic disparity will become bigger than both of you.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

The pass looked doomed the moment it left Jayden Maiava’s hands.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

Before Kao’s doomed reign as CEO, Navatek was a sleepy Hawaiian engineering company with a few dozen employees.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

Our entire operation seemed doomed as I rose to my feet.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

The crash should have flooded just two of the boat's six watertight compartments, but a missing door meant that three were compromised, dooming the vessel.

From Barron's ● Dec. 2, 2025

Frank added it to the bill, dooming it to failure; it would be another 13 years before both classes would win protection.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025

Lindbergh signs a non-aggression pact with Hitler, dooming Britain and Russia to defeat.

From Salon ● May 17, 2025

Even Alito could not actually dissent, because, as he acknowledged, the defense attorney failed to preserve an objection to the strikes, dooming the appeal.

From Slate ● Feb. 20, 2024

Didn’t Rowan realize that by sacrificing himself, he’d be dooming her as well?

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

Related Words

• calamity
• cataclysm
• catastrophe
• disaster
• downfall