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If you feel a sense of doom when asked to define deem, we’re here with some details for your dome (sense 7). While today deem is used generally as a synonym of consider (as in “a movie deemed appropriate for all ages”), its origins are more formal, coming specifically from the realm of law. The oldest meaning of deem, which comes from the Old English verb dēman (relative of dōm, meaning “doom”) is “to sit in judgment upon,” as employed by Edmund Spenser in The Faerie Queen: “... at th’one side six Judges were dispos’d, / To view and deem the deeds of arms that day.” This sense was obsolete by the early 17th century, and other senses including “to expect or hope” have come and gone, but deem’s use overall has never dimmed. In fact, today’s most common meaning of “to come to think or judge something; to consider” has also been in use since Old English and is still deemed quite common.
Examples of deem in a Sentence
Julian Camejo, Miami Herald, 4 Apr. 2026
The rapper previously shared rhetoric widely deemed as antisemitic on social media, used a 2025 Super Bowl ad to redirect viewers to a website selling a $20 swastika T-shirt, and dropped a song praising Adolf Hitler.
—Anthony Robledo, USA Today, 3 Apr. 2026
Players try to deem themselves worthy of membership in the villainous Vicious 6 by hitting a lot of targets, which appear on screens on both sides of a curvy, moving sidewalk.
—Dewayne Bevil, The Orlando Sentinel, 3 Apr. 2026
But Fultz underscores that the bill was introduced because the previous legislation was deemed unconstitutional and discriminatory by Canadian courts.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 3 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for deem
Cite this Entry
“Deem.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deem. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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