doom
n. · v.-
1 terrible fate (n.) B2 Upper Intermediatea very bad or tragic end that you cannot escape.
an inevitable and usually disastrous fate or destiny.
ExampleThe hero in the story walked toward his doom with his head held high.
ExampleThe prophecy spoke of a kingdom meeting its doom through the betrayal of its own trusted advisors.
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2 feeling of despair (n.) B2 Upper Intermediatea strong feeling that something terrible is going to happen.
a psychological state of dread or impending disaster.
ExampleA sense of doom filled the room as the bad news arrived.
ExampleDespite the sunny weather, a lingering sense of doom pervaded the city as the deadline for the peace talks approached.
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3 the Last Judgment (n.) C2 Proficiency Literary Archaic Religionthe final judgment of the world in some religions.
the final judgment of mankind by God; often used in the phrase 'Day of Doom'.
ExampleOld paintings in the church showed the Day of Doom.
ExampleThe medieval fresco depicted the terrors of the Doom, with figures rising from their graves to face final justice.
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4 to condemn (v.) B2 Upper Intermediateto make it certain that someone or something will fail or suffer.
to destine or condemn to an unhappy or terrible fate; almost always used in the passive voice.
ExampleThe project was doomed to fail because they didn't have enough money.
ExampleThe expedition was doomed from the start by a combination of poor planning and exceptionally harsh winter conditions.
UsageUsually appears in the passive form 'be doomed to'.
From Middle English doom, dom, from Old English dōm (“judgement”), from Proto-West Germanic dōm, from Proto-Germanic dōmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰóh₁mos. Cognates Compare Dutch doem (“condemnation, doom; judgement”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish dom (“judgement”), Faroese and Icelandic dómur (“judgement”), Gothic 𐌳𐍉𐌼𐍃 (dōms, “insight, judgement”); also Ancient Greek θωμός (thōmós, “heap”), Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, and Ukrainian ду́ма (dúma, “thought”), Polish duma (“pride”). Doublet of duma. See also deem.