DOOMSCROLL Definition & Meaning

doomscroll

or doom-scroll

[ doom-skrohl ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used with or without object)

Digital Technology.

to obsessively check online news for updates, especially on social media feeds, with the expectation that the news will be bad, such that the feeling of dread from this negative expectation fuels a compulsion to continue looking for updates in a self-perpetuating cycle.

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of doomscroll¹

First recorded in 2015–20; doom ( def ) + scroll ( def ) (in the sense “to move text up, down, or across a display screen”); influenced by doomsday ( def )

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“We’ve been doomscrolling. It was like, what can I do? I can make posts on Bluesky or Instagram, but I wanted to take action.”

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As our brains struggle to process information related to major threats, it's natural to feel completely drowned in anxiety, frozen and unable to do anything except keep doomscrolling.

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Maybe Belinda is just not doomscrolling like the rest of us.

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If we already have our phones in our hands, doomscrolling while reading about the fragile state of entertainment, we should at least have a way to kick in a few bucks while we’re at it.

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It’s critical archival work, yet also the ideal antidote to doomscrolling.

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