doomscroll

American

[doom-skrohl] / ˈdumˌskroʊl /

Or doom-scroll

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.

Etymology

Origin of doomscroll

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. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Rosie Okatcha, an influencer from the U.K., proclaimed the year would be “The Age of Analog” with consumers swapping music streaming for iPods and vinyl records, and choosing crafting over doomscrolling.

From Los Angeles Times

The government had already said it would launch the public consultation in March, seeking opinions about restricting children's access to AI chatbots and limiting infinite scrolling features for children – also known as doomscrolling.

From BBC

There are so many overwhelming ideas in “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” that, at over two hours, it does have the sense of a dissociative doomscroll.

From Los Angeles Times

They are supervised - no sitting on a bench next to the weights while doomscrolling for this lot - and are specifically designed with curling in mind.

From BBC

This leads to even more people, especially teens, spending all their time “doomscrolling” social feeds.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023