What does foredoom mean?
To foredoom is to condemn something to failure or ruin in advance — to pronounce, before events unfold, that an unhappy outcome is already fixed. The word is nearly always a transitive verb, most often met in passive forms like 'the mission was foredoomed,' and it appears chiefly in formal, literary, or journalistic prose. Its connotation is relentlessly fatalistic: plans are foredoomed to fail, marriages foredoomed by incompatibility, rebellions foredoomed by poor leadership. What distinguishes foredoom from simple doom is timing; where 'doom' names the ruin itself, 'foredoom' emphasizes that the verdict was rendered beforehand, capturing the human habit — especially sharp in hindsight — of judging that an outcome was never truly in doubt. A rarer noun form denotes such a predetermined fate. The word rewards writers seeking precise, evocative language for inevitable disaster.
To condemn or destine someone or something to failure, misfortune, or ruin in advance.
"The negotiators' stubbornness had foredoomed the treaty months before its collapse."
Almost always transitive; frequently seen in the passive form 'be foredoomed to something.'
A destiny or sentence of ruin fixed in advance; a predetermined doom.
"He seemed to carry a foredoom that no stroke of luck could lift."
Rare; the verb sense is by far the dominant use of the word.
The plural applies only to the rare noun sense; it is uncommon in general use.
"The novel's heroes struggle against the foredooms written into their fates."
"Foredoom" lets you declare a disaster before it happens — it's the rare word that condemns tomorrow's failure today.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of foredoom
Foredoom derives from the prefix 'fore-', meaning 'before' or 'in advance', attached to 'doom', the Old English term for judgement or decree (from 'dōm'), which in Middle English came to signify condemnation to ruin. Formed in English, likely in the early modern period, the compound shifts the act of dooming to a point before events unfold. It shares its 'fore-' prefix with kindred words of anticipation such as foresee, foretell, foreshadow, and forewarn.
Related word forms
How foredoom is actually used
Foredoom is almost always used transitively, typically in passive constructions such as 'was foredoomed to fail.' It carries an overwhelmingly negative, fatalistic connotation and appears mostly in formal, literary, or journalistic writing about ventures, plans, and relationships judged hopeless in hindsight.
Easily confused with foredoom
Doom is the fate of ruin itself (or the act of condemning), while foredoom specifically means imposing or determining that fate in advance, before events unfold.