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

• 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

Appeared in the January 23, 2026, print edition as 'Japan’s Economy Is Worse and Better Than the Doom and Gloom'.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026

Barron’s: Doom Loop correctly predicted that powers like the U.S. would take a transactional approach to Latin America.

From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026

After testing potential cures, bosses scoured the MCU's vast source material and summoned villain Doctor Victor von Doom as the focus of its future.

From BBC • Jan. 9, 2026

The economist once known as Dr. Doom, after forewarning the Japanese crash of the 1990s, said interest rates are likely to break higher soon, taking the stock market with it.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 9, 2026

No sooner had he come in sight of Mount Doom, burning far away, than he was aware of a change in his burden.

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien

Related Words

• calamity
• cataclysm
• catastrophe
• disaster
• downfall