doom
Americannoun
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fate or destiny, especially adverse fate; unavoidable ill fortune.
In exile and poverty, he met his doom.
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to fall to one's doom.
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a judgment, decision, or sentence, especially an unfavorable one.
The judge pronounced the defendant's doom.
- Synonyms:
- fate, ruination, downfall, destruction
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the Last Judgment, at the end of the world.
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Obsolete. a statute, enactment, or legal judgment.
verb (used with object)
-
to destine, especially to an adverse fate.
- Synonyms:
- predestine, foreordain
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to pronounce judgment against; condemn.
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to ordain or fix as a sentence or fate.
noun
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death or a terrible fate
-
a judgment or decision
-
(sometimes capital) another term for the Last Judgment
verb
Synonym Usage
See fate.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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doomsimple
-
doomssimple
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have doomedperfect
-
has doomedperfect
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am doomingprogressive
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are doomingprogressive
-
is doomingprogressive
-
have been doomingperfect progressive
-
has been doomingperfect progressive
Past
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doomedsimple
-
had doomedperfect
-
was doomingprogressive
-
were doomingprogressive
-
had been doomingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing doom
"Sonnet 55" by William Shakespeare
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Similes from Top AP English Exam Novels
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"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But, mercifully, the picture is not all doom and gloom.
From BBC • Jun. 28, 2026
On the positive side, a historical look at the stock market shows that past rate-hike cycles didn’t doom the stock market.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 21, 2026
He worried he would never escape his own destructive patterns or sense of impending doom.
From Slate • Jun. 18, 2026
And yet, it isn’t all doom and gloom.
From Barron's • Jun. 4, 2026
The latter informs the party that she bequeaths untold wealth to the young pair and an awful doom to Don Pedro, if he doesn’t make them happy.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
