prophet of doom
1
8.0
- noun
- /ˈprɒfɪt əv duːm/
- Informal
:
profeta del desastre
- Many people consider him a prophet of doom for always predicting economic collapse.
Examples
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These prophets of doom overestimated the Germans' pragmatism and underestimated our tendency toward pedantry and a know-it-all manner.
Academic text (1991) -
He then went on to inveigh against all those prophets of doom who see dark clouds on the horizon.
Blog text (10) -
Be sure that God will hold these prophets of doom accountable for every word spoken.
Blog text (22) -
What good's permitting Some prophet of doom To wipe every smile away?
-
He's a real prophet of doom, ain't he?
-
In his opening address to the council, John labeled such obstructionist officials 'prophets of doom.'
Academic text (2014) -
He went on: "We must disagree with those prophets of doom."
Blog text (8) -
On the one hand, he's an esteemed professor who retired with dignity, and on the other hand, he's an end-of-days prophet of doom.
-
Unfortunately, Brownlee and Lenzer saw the issue through the simplistic lens of the hoary old story of the prophet of doom whose message is rejected due to dogma.
Blog text (13) -
The phrase "prophecy of doom" seems almost always to be spoken with a smirk, but prophets of doom are not always wrong, and it surely matters that some of the gloomiest prognostications are coming from some of the soberest minds in the developed world.
Academic text (2000)
Synonyms
25
3.9
A person who expects bad things to happen
3
9.3
A person who thinks the future will be bad and expects disaster
1
8.9
A person who always expects bad things to happen
1
8.2
A person who always expects the worst and often complains
A person who always expects things to go wrong
A person who always sees the bad side of things
Antonyms
How Pessimistic
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'a person who predicts unpleasant or disastrous events' is directly derivable from combining 'prophet' (one who predicts) with 'doom' (destruction/unpleasant destiny) connected by the preposition 'of', so a learner who knows the constituent words can infer the meaning. This is a compositional and cross-linguistically common pattern (predictor + negative outcome), making the expression readily understandable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Prophet of doom may come from old stories of a prophet who warned people about coming doom, or very bad events. Because such people always spoke of disaster, calling someone a prophet of doom today means they often say 'bad things' will happen.