Meaning & use
prophet of doom
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Meanings
nouncountabledisapproving
A person who predicts disaster or failure and is seen as too negative or pessimistic.
Grammar: Countable: one prophet of doom, several prophets of doom. Often used with 'a' in a slightly mocking way.
Patterns
- a prophet of doom
- be called a prophet of doom
- the prophets of doom
Every time the company changes its strategy, the same prophets of doom say it will fail.
He was dismissed as a prophet of doom when he warned that the market would crash.
The prophets of doom were wrong: sales doubled within a year.
nouncountable
Someone who correctly warns about a serious future problem, especially in politics or economics.
Grammar: Countable and used in the plural for a group of people making similar warnings.
Patterns
- the prophets of doom
- prove the prophets of doom right
With sea levels rising, the prophets of doom no longer sound so extreme.
Events proved the prophets of doom right about the housing market.
Word forms
| plural | prophets of doom |
|---|
Common combinations
- be dismissed as a prophet of doom
- She was dismissed as a prophet of doom until the flood actually came.
- the prophets of doom
- The prophets of doom predict another recession this year.
- prove the prophets of doom right
- The poor harvest proved the prophets of doom right.
- sound like a prophet of doom
- I don't want to sound like a prophet of doom, but we need a backup plan.
- warnings from the prophets of doom
- Ignore the warnings from the prophets of doom at your peril.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pessimist
- A general word for someone who expects bad things; 'prophet of doom' is more dramatic and often suggests public warnings about disaster.
- doomsayer
- Very close in meaning, but shorter and used especially in news writing for someone who predicts catastrophe.
- Cassandra
- A literary reference to someone whose true warnings are ignored; it stresses being disbelieved rather than being gloomy.
- alarmist
- Focuses on exaggerating danger; 'prophet of doom' can be neutral or even approving if the warnings turn out to be right.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: prophet of doom or profit? prophet of doom or prophecy?
prophet of doom vs profit
'Prophet' and 'profit' sound the same in English but mean different things: a prophet predicts the future, while profit is money you gain from business.
prophet of doom vs prophecy
'Prophecy' is the prediction itself; a 'prophet of doom' is the person who makes gloomy predictions.
Practice
After the factory closed, even the ___ of doom admitted they had not expected such a fast recovery.
Choose one answer.
We need a plural noun for the people who predicted disaster, so 'prophets' is correct. 'Profits' is a different word that sounds the same, 'prophecies' are the predictions themselves, and 'prophetic' is an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “prophet of doom”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.