doom
Americannoun
-
fate or destiny, especially adverse fate; unavoidable ill fortune.
In exile and poverty, he met his doom.
-
to fall to one's doom.
-
a judgment, decision, or sentence, especially an unfavorable one.
The judge pronounced the defendant's doom.
- Synonyms:
- fate, ruination, downfall, destruction
-
the Last Judgment, at the end of the world.
-
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
-
death or a terrible fate
-
a judgment or decision
-
(sometimes capital) another term for the Last Judgment
verb
Related Words
See fate.
Other Word Forms
- doomy adjective
- predoom verb (used with object)
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”); deem
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.
Some is gossip she’s obliged to dispel, including one about the secret baby she was alleged to have had with DeBarge during their very short, doomed marriage.
From Salon
The motors that pull the capsule away from the doomed rocket are designed to accelerate from 0 to 500 mph — well over half the speed of sound — in just two seconds.
From Los Angeles Times
When Titanic departed on her doomed maiden voyage in April 1912 she was the largest, most luxurious and most technically advanced ship ever to sail the seas.
From BBC
Having a girlfriend didn’t have to doom his chances to get into college or make him go broke.
From Literature
Speaking after the announcement, Cheng said she hoped to prove that "the two sides of the strait are not doomed to war".
From Barron's
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.
