doom

noun

\ ˈdüm

Definition of doom

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a law or ordinance especially in Anglo-Saxon England

2a : judgment, decision especially : a judicial condemnation or sentence

b(1) : judgment sense 5a

(2) : judgment day sense 1

3a : destiny especially : unhappy destiny

b : death, ruin

doom

verb

doomed; dooming; dooms

Definition of doom (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to give judgment against : condemn

2a : to fix the fate of : destine felt he was doomed to a life of loneliness

b : to make certain the failure or destruction of the scandal doomed her chances for election

Synonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about doom

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Choose the Right Synonym for doom

Noun

fate, destiny, lot, portion, doom mean a predetermined state or end. fate implies an inevitable and usually an adverse outcome. the fate of the submarine is unknown destiny implies something foreordained and often suggests a great or noble course or end. the country's destiny to be a model of liberty to the world lot and portion imply a distribution by fate or destiny, lot suggesting blind chance it was her lot to die childless , portion implying the apportioning of good and evil. remorse was his daily portion doom distinctly implies a grim or calamitous fate. if the rebellion fails, his doom is certain

Examples of doom in a Sentence

Noun

The papers are filled with stories of gloom and doom. the story of a mysterious creature who lures travelers to their doom

Verb

A criminal record will doom your chances of becoming a politician. had always felt that he was doomed to remain single forever

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

This could spell doom for the public’s faith in the Court’s separation from the political process — and, thus, for the Court’s legitimacy. — Zack Beauchamp, Vox, "Brett Kavanaugh and the Supreme Court’s looming legitimacy crisis," 24 Sep. 2018 Rather than a sign of impending doom, however, some investors see a unique opportunity to buy bonds with significant headroom for capital appreciation. — Christopher Whittall, WSJ, "Investors See Opportunity in Beaten Down Bonds," 17 Dec. 2018 Besides scrolling through tweets or taking selfies with fans in public, Chrissy also appreciates all the wonderfully odd (and sometimes spot-on) fan theories the internet has to offer — even the ones that suggest doom in Kate's future. — Kayla Keegan, Good Housekeeping, "Chrissy Metz Says This Is Us Fans Have Kate All Wrong," 19 Mar. 2019 This doom-and-gloom approach to job hunting is out of character for me. — refinery29.com, "I Don't Know What I’m Doing Next, But Activism Will Be a Part Of It," 21 June 2018 Even as doom-and-gloom reports suggest robots are poised to replace human labor and automotive upstarts like Tesla Inc. aim to largely remove people from the production line, workers keep toiling side-by-side with machines in Marysville. — Bloomberg.com, "Robots Rejected: Humans Still Build the Best New Car You Can Buy," 23 Jan. 2018 On the flip side, doom and gloom blooms adorned with extra cobwebs and spiders to dark hearts' delight. — Gabe Bergado, Teen Vogue, "The "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" Spellman House Was a Spooky Adventure Fit for Instagram," 26 Oct. 2018 The sun enters shadowy Scorpio on Tuesday, October 23, but for you, this celestial movement doesn’t mean doom and gloom. — Aliza Kelly Faragher, Allure, "What October's Pisces Horoscope Means for You," 30 Sep. 2018 Back in March, forecasts of severe doom and gloom went viral on Facebook (but had absolutely no credibility). — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "Hurricane season begins in two weeks, but hype season is in full swing," 15 May 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Those costs can be significant (often, more than a percentage point a year) so that the average manager is doomed to underperform, after those costs are taken into account. — The Economist, "Troubles at the Woodford investment group point to a wider trend," 6 June 2019 Couture, Tomas Hertl and Joe Thornton scored for the Sharks, who were doomed by the lackluster start and a poor power play. — Josh Dubow, The Seattle Times, "Golden Knights tie series with Sharks with 5-3 win in Game 2," 13 Apr. 2019 President Donald Trump seemed to undermine the effort with a tweet suggesting any measure the House approved would be doomed in the Senate anyway. — Lisa Mascaro, BostonGlobe.com, "House will delay vote on GOP compromise immigration bill until Friday," 21 June 2018 Last spring, for example, after the House passed a healthcare bill, Trump held a Rose Garden ceremony, seemingly oblivious to the fact that House passage was the easy part and the measure was doomed in the Senate. — David Lauter, latimes.com, "For Trump, a focus on nuclear diplomacy provides a welcome change of topic," 10 May 2018 But the dream of running a more full-featured operating system on Chromebooks is anything but doomed, even if Windows never graces a Google-y laptop. — Brad Chacos, PCWorld, "The dream of dual-booting Windows 10 on Chromebooks appears dead," 16 May 2019 But thanks to a little help from the world’s most famous playwright, no other single incident has doomed March 15th to its baleful reputation quite like Julius Caesar’s assassination. — Jill Gleeson, Country Living, "So, What Exactly Are the Ides of March?," 15 Mar. 2019 Setbacks of 13-10 at Washington College on March 3 and 6-5 at McDaniel four days later likely doomed their hopes of earning a Pool C bid to the NCAA tournament. — Edward Lee, baltimoresun.com, "Review & preview: Frostburg State men’s lacrosse," 19 June 2018 Saturday's run-scoring problems doomed Mike Minor's best start since May 3. — Stefan Stevenson, star-telegram, "LOB City: Rangers leave record-tying 17 on base in fifth straight loss to Astros," 9 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'doom.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.