doom

[doom]

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

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

/ duːm /

noun

1. death or a terrible fate

2. a judgment or decision

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

verb

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

Other Word Forms

• doomy adjective
• predoom verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of doom¹

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”); deem

Word History and Origins

Origin of doom¹

Old English dōm; related to Old Norse dōmr judgment, Gothic dōms sentence, Old High German tuom condition, Greek thomos crowd, Sanskrit dhāman custom; see _do ¹ , _deem , _deed , _-dom

Synonym Study

See fate.

Example Sentences

But if this time really is different, the dollar is doomed and gold could become a very big part of portfolios again.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Elon Musk’s name apparently came up during a Q&A. Who is Mr. Musk except he who would rescue us from planetary doom?

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The upgrade hinges on what Oppenheimer calls a “compelling” investor day presentation, which served to alleviate concerns over the fallout related to First Brands, the doomed auto-parts supplier that filed for bankruptcy in September.

Read more on Barron's

A group of kids tossed a football, and while social media told us we were all doomed for a variety of reasons, for just a few minutes it didn’t seem that way.

Read more on Salon

But it would weaken the peso, send inflation higher and make middle-class Argentines feel poorer, politically risky in a country where big protests over rising costs have doomed presidencies before.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• calamity 
• cataclysm 
• catastrophe 
• disaster 
• downfall