doomsday

American  

[doomz-day] / ˈdumzˌdeɪ /

noun

1. Theology. the day of the Last Judgment, at the end of the world.

2. any day of judgment or sentence.

3. nuclear destruction of the world.

---

adjective

1. given to or marked by forebodings or predictions of impending calamity; especially concerned with or predicting future universal destruction.

   the doomsday issue of all-out nuclear war.

2. capable of causing widespread or total destruction.

   doomsday weapons.

doomsday British  

/ ˈduːmzˌdeɪ /

noun

1. (sometimes capital) the day on which the Last Judgment will occur

2. any day of reckoning

3. (modifier) characterized by predictions of disaster

   doomsday scenario

---

Etymology

Origin of doomsday

First recorded before 1000; Middle English domes dai, Old English dōmesdæg “Judgment Day”; equivalent to doom ( def. ) + 's ¹ ( def. ) + day ( def. )

---

Explanation

In many religions, doomsday is the end of the world and the moment of final judgment. In your everyday life, doomsday might be the date of the final exam in your math class. Doomsday means utter catastrophe, in both religious and secular contexts. Many faiths believe in a literal doomsday, when life as we know it will come to an end. For centuries people have attempted to predict when this will occur, with the most recent guesses including 2011, 2012, and 2021. Generally, a doomsday scenario is any event that could cause human extinction, like catastrophic climate change or an asteroid impact. The Germanic root of doomsday means "judgment day."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

doomsday

The doomsday idea persisted in part because its predictions for future populations turned out to be highly accurate — at least for a while.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

Direct hits on an airport have long been an aviation insurance doomsday scenario, given that billions of dollars worth of planes sit tightly next to each other and could be wiped out en masse.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

AI agents going rogue and ever-louder doomsday warnings have led many in Europe to wonder: are the EU's artificial intelligence rules enough to protect against the potential dangers?

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has described warnings that AI could lead to humanity's extinction by the next decade as "doomsday narratives".

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

I needed to find Artemis, and I needed to figure out what the doomsday creature was.

From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---