doomsday

noun

dooms·​day ˈdümz-ˌdā How to pronounce doomsday (audio)
often attributive
1
: a day of final judgment
2
: a time of catastrophic destruction and death

Examples of doomsday in a Sentence

a warning that doomsday is near The book explores a doomsday scenario in which an asteroid hits the Earth.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The painting conjures a roiling ocean, as though Whitten—who later became a scuba diver, and enjoyed hunting octopuses—were envisioning a doomsday resurrection of the Middle Passage dead. Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 29 May 2025 Met by some with cautious optimism, others with trepidation, and others with doomsday predictions, there is no doubt that AI is here to stay and changing work in ways yet to be fully revealed. Laurel Donnellan, Forbes.com, 28 May 2025 Those 1950s newspaper comic strips and subsequent graphic novel collections are practically a national treasure in Argentina, and the list of filmmakers trying to deliver its doomsday sci-fi story in other mediums was long and impressive. Jeff Spry, Space.com, 23 May 2025 For within weeks of the book’s publication, Hopkins and two other researchers confounded mathematicians by announcing that Snaith’s warning to readers had been all too apt: The doomsday hypothesis was true. Erica Klarreich, Quanta Magazine, 5 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for doomsday

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of doomsday was before the 12th century

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Cite this Entry

“Doomsday.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doomsday. Accessed 8 Jun. 2025.

Kids Definition

doomsday

noun
dooms·​day ˈdümz-ˌdā How to pronounce doomsday (audio)

More from Merriam-Webster on doomsday

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