Foredooming

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of condemning someone or something to a predetermined unfavorable fate
2. The process of ensuring that a future outcome is destined to be negative or detrimental
3. The state of being marked by an inevitable, often adverse, outcome, suggesting a sense of predestination

Etymology: Foredooming is built from "foredoom," which combines the prefix "fore-," meaning "before" or "in advance," with "doom," a word that has meant judgment or fate since Old English. Put together, the root idea is a fate settled ahead of time. The sense of a doom that is fixed beforehand is what the verb carries. The same pattern appears in "foredeem," a close relative that means to judge or determine in advance. Both words share the "fore-" prefix that English has long used to place an action before its outcome, as in "foresee" and "foretell." "Foredoom" follows that model, applying it to a judgment that is grim rather than neutral.

Synonyms: predestining, condemning

Antonyms: redeeming, saving