doom

plural dooms

1. countableuncountableDestiny, especially terrible.

   "When should I expect him?" Roy said, resigned to his doom.

   2007, Billy Lee Brammer, “Fustian Days: Book One: Sonic Goddam Boom”, in Southwest Review, volume 92, number 4, page 495

   3 more examples

   This, for the night; by day, the web and loom, / And homely houſhold-taſk, ſhall be her doom,

   a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The First Book of Homer's Ilias”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 415

   We are legion. The time of our return is coming. Our numbers will darken the sky of every world. You cannot escape your doom.

   2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Virmire

   "After he takes the throne, you will be arrested." / "You lie like your master, Carfax. Your doom is sealed."

   2009 December 11, Karen Gormandy, “Robin Hood”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 59, number 8, page 4

   Synonyms: lot, orlay, chance, destin, destiny, fatality, fate, foredoom

2. countableuncountableAn undesirable fate; an impending severe occurrence or danger that seems inevitable.

   Chung was the first of its four picks in Round 2. His arrival might spell doom for Rodney Harrison.

   2009 April 27, Nate Davis, “After Lions^ gamble, lots of big men tapped”, in USA Today, Sports, page 7C

   2 more examples

   unlike Vincent, he wasn't quite taken in by the outbreak of hopefulness on all sides. After all, nothing about the tanks or the process had been resolved; an air of doom still hung undisturbed over the project.

   2004, Arthur Miller, “The Turpentine Still”, in Southwest Review, volume 89, number 4, page 479

   Such paintings are inherently moody, and Elliott likes that-even as he carefully avoids dictating a specific mood. "Yesterday I painted the last light of the day-the trees looked pink, and the mountain's shadow was coming over them. It created a feeling of nostalgia... or impending doom... or still, quiet, peacefulness. It depends on the viewer's feelings about the scene, not just mine."

   2007 February, Bob Bahr, “Tapestries in Oil”, in American Artist, volume 71, number 773, page 45

   Antonyms: fortune

3. countableuncountableDread; a feeling of danger, impending danger, darkness, or despair.

   Then the smiling narrator filled me with doom: I was expected to pull my own rip cord. I nearly fainted.

   2009 March, Deanna Roy, “Forget the rules and make the leap”, in Writer, volume 122, number 3, page 15

   4 more examples

   She halted her pacing steps as the ugly significance of Nicholas Caulfield's pending arrival washed over her. Ruin. Destitution. Doom settled like a heavy stone in her chest.

   2006, Sophie Jordan, Once upon a wedding night

   Feeling doom, as we learned in the beautiful folk language of blacks who knew the truth of it, began with a single unexpected oddity — a redbird out of season, hail out of cloudless skies, dogs cowering under the house

   2007, Terry Kay with William J. Scheick, The Year the Lights Came on, page 204

   I'm taking medications every day; never thinking I would be spiraling into nothing but a nightmare that made me feel doom.

   2008, Beverly Fincham, Real Life Freedom, page 25

   perhaps you do that most rare of things when reading the news: You grin, exhale, stop feeling doom in every crevasse and corner of your body.

   2010 July 20, Mark Morford, “What to do when it all goes right”, in San Francisco Chronicle

4. countableobsoleteA law.

   "What ye will not that other men should do unto you, that do ye not unto other men." "From this one doom," comments Alfred, "a man may bethink him how he should judge every one rightly: he needs no other doombook."

   1915, Beatrice Adelaide Lees, Alfred the Great: the truth teller, maker of England, 848-899, page 211

5. countableobsoleteA judgment or decision.

   And there he learned of things and haps to come, / To give foreknowledge true, and certain doom.

   1600, Edward Fairfax, transl., Jerusalem Delivered, translation of Gerusalemme Liberata by Torquato Tasso

   4 more examples

   But the day of doome shall be the end of this time, and the beginning of the immortality for to come, wherein corruption is past.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Esdras 7:43

   Kings are spoken of as if they had a store of "Themistes" ready to hand for use; but it must be distinctly understood that they are not laws, but judgments, or, to take the exact Teutonic equivalent, "dooms."

   1861, Henry Sumner Maine, Ancient Law, page 22

   when Alfred in turn set himself to the task of stating and interpreting the law of his kingdom, there were already precedents for him to follow, in the written "dooms" (domas) of his predecessors, — themselves but a small portion of the still unwritten custom

   1915, Beatrice Adelaide Lees, Alfred the Great: the truth teller, maker of England, 848-899, page 208

   Therefore I say that we will go on, and this doom I add: the deeds that we shall do shall be the matter of song until the last days of Arda.

   1977, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, page 88

6. countableobsoleteA sentence or penalty for illegal behaviour.

   The first dooms of London provide especially the recovery of cattle belonging to the citizens.

   1874, John Richard Green, A Short History of the English People

   2 more examples

   Appeals were by our ancient law styled falsing of dooms. They were to be entered immediately after doom or sentence was pronounced,

   1828, John Erskine with Sir George Mackenzie and James Ivory, An institute of the law of Scotland, page 989

   The billiard sharp whom anyone catches / His doom’s extremely hard— / He’s made to dwell— / In a dungeon cell / On a spot that’s always barred.

   1885, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert; Arthur Sullivan, composer, “A More Humane Mikado”, in […] The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu, London: Chappel & Co., […], →OCLC, Act II, page 36

7. countableuncountableDeath.

   They met an untimely doom when the mineshaft caved in.

   3 more examples

   This is the day of doom for Bassianus.

   1593, William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus

   Harley got devoured by the undead / Lurking down in some old wizard's tomb / You can say there's no such thing as zombies / But that's how Harley Warren met his doom

   2006, The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, “Harley Got Devoured by the Undead”, in An Even Scarier Solstice

   The engines were rumbling, missing every now and then, and Rachel leaned back in her seat, prepared to meet her doom somewhere over the Pacific. At least there was a priest at hand -- maybe she could entice him to hear a final confession.

   2009, Anne Kristin Stuart, Tangled lies

   Synonyms: fatality, mortality, death, end, tomb, celestial transfer, decease, decomposition

8. capitalizedcountablesometimesuncountableThe Last Judgment; or, an artistic representation thereof.

present singular third person dooms · participle present dooming · participle past doomed · past doomed

1. transitiveTo pronounce judgment or sentence on; to condemn.

   a criminal doomed to death

   2 more examples

   Absolves the just, and dooms the guilty souls.

   1697, Virgil, “The Sixth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

   There was certainly plenty of badass Arya before and after—more on that soon—but here was Arya the living, breathing human, outnumbered and petrified of making the one slight wrong move that would doom her.

   2019 April 28, Alex McLevy, “Game Of Thrones Suffers the Fog of War in the Battle against the Dead (Newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 31 May 2021

   Synonyms: deem, sentence, adjudge, convict, condemn, damn, deem, judge

2. To destine; to fix irrevocably the ill fate of.

   A man of genius […] doomed to struggle with difficulties.

   1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC

   Synonyms: curse, fate, foreordain, preordain

3. obsoleteTo judge; to estimate or determine as a judge.

   And while we know not that the King of heaven hath not doomed this place our safe retreat

   1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC

   Synonyms: adjudge, deem, rule on, adjudge, adjudicate, arbitrate, deem, hear

4. obsoleteTo ordain as a penalty; hence, to mulct or fine.

   Have I tongue to doom my brother's death?

   c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]

   Synonyms: penalize, sanction

5. New EnglandarchaicTo assess a tax upon, by estimate or at discretion.
6. InternetintransitiveTo be extremely pessimistic about something.

   You can tell why Democrats were dooming like two months ago

   2024 September 17, @USA_Polling, X (post), archived from the original on 07 May 2026

   2 more examples

   Every time I see people dooming over North America I just assume its because they've never seen the parts of it that look like this

   2023 September 14, @alanthefisher, X (post), archived from the original on 07 May 2026

   Earlier today I wanted to doom about Gemini 3.1 Pro completely failing ARC-AGI-3.

   2026 February 20, @scaling01, X (post), archived from the original on 07 May 2026

1. InternetabbreviationinitialismInitialism of didn't organize, only moved; used in compounds designating a miscellaneous collection of items which one has failed to properly organize.

   I tried to organize my stuff but just ended up making a big doom pile.

   5 more examples

   One day in April of 2021, Lindsey Bee decided it was time to deal with the laundry "doom piles" that had formed around her house. So she did what many people do when faced with a boring task. She turned to TikTok.

   2022 June 1, “’Body doubling,’ an ADHD productivity tool, is flourishing online”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 02 Jun 2023

   While digital clutter may not be physical, like the "doom piles" and junk drawers in your home, the anxiety and distress it induces is real, said Kerry Lakey, a lecturer in psychology at Northumbria University in England, who studies behavior around digital data.

   2023 February 24, Jancee Dunn, quoting Kerry Lakey, “How to Clear Out Digital Clutter”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 May 2023

   The doom in 'doom pile' is actually an acronym. It stands for "Didn't Organize, Only Moved" – an experience many people with ADHD can apparently relate to when they try to organize their spaces, whether physical or virtual. Instead of sorting things in their rightful places, they end up stacking them along with other random, unsorted things to be organized later – or never. That's how people end up with doom piles, doom boxes, doom bags, doom folders and drives, doom rooms and closets, and other kinds of doom arrangements.

   2023 April 28, Alexandrea Cantwell, “"My Doom Piles Screamed 'Undiagnosed ADHD'"”, in ADDitude, archived from the original on 09 Jun 2023

   DOOM piles are a cleaning tactic and a way of reducing visual clutter. Essentially, it's stashing random items that need to be organized in one place, to be dealt with later. We all have DOOM piles — a junk drawer or a place where we put piles of clutter before guests visit. There can be DOOM piles, DOOM bags, DOOM boxes, or one of my son's favorites, a DOOM desk.

   2023 June 20, Kristin Wilcox, “Is Your ADHD Making You a DOOM Piler?”, in Psychology Today, New York, N.Y.: Sussex Publishers, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2023

   The term "doom pile" or "doom box" stands for "Didn't Organize, Only Moved" and is usually a failed attempt by adults with ADHD to organize paperwork.

   [2023 February 9, Allie Cantwell, CBC News, archived from the original on 28 Aug 2023

alternative DOOM

1. video gamesA popular first-person shooter video game, often regarded as the progenitor of the genre.

   Origin […] have used the canvas of a Doom-like first-person 3-D engine to paint a master work of their own in this comic-book action game.

   1996 May 1, Jeffrey Adam Young, “CyberMage: Darklight Awakening Review”, in GameSpot

1. alternativeAlternative form of Doom.

1. alternativeAlternative form of doom (“didn't organize, only moved”).