doomed
Americanadjective
-
destined, or seemingly destined, especially to an adverse fate.
Math wizards were able to pinpoint the final resting place of the doomed jet deep beneath the ocean.
-
judged guilty and sentenced, especially to death; condemned.
Several times today and tonight the doomed man has wept like a child in his prison cell.
-
ordained or fixed, as a sentence or fate.
In this age of finding everything online, it won’t be long before seed catalogs suffer the same doomed fate as most gardening magazines.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of doomed
Explanation
The doomed are people marked by very bad luck, particularly death. When you learn about a tragedy, like a tsunami that kills many people, it makes you feel terrible for the doomed. Doomed is a plural noun for referring to a group of unfortunate people, and it's also an adjective describing someone who's destined to die. A runaway dog that kills the animal control officer's pet chickens is doomed, and many characters in Shakespeare's tragic plays are doomed. You can also follow doomed with "to" to mean "destined" or "fated." Your uncle might be doomed to continue working as a school bus driver for the rest of his career.
Vocabulary lists containing doomed
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.
Researchers believe the shock "fizzles" after reaching the outer boundary of a bubble created by gas that the doomed star had previously expelled.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
But then she was doomed from the start.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
"We were all sick, so it was doomed from the start," recalls guitarist Josette Maskin.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
"If we fail to draw conclusions, to change our attitude toward service, to acknowledge our mistakes, we are doomed," he said at the time.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
The Coach of the Old Dominion Kiwanis has come to this hospital, to this strange outfield, to this old dominion of cancer, to this old dominion of death, coaching in the ward of the doomed.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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.
