ominous
Americanadjective
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portending evil or harm; foreboding; threatening; inauspicious.
an ominous bank of dark clouds.
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indicating the nature of a future event, for good or evil; having the significance of an omen; being a portent.
Some of these events were immediately ominous, while others only later revealed themselves as such.
adjective
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foreboding evil
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serving as or having significance as an omen
Related Words
Ominous, portentous, threatening, menacing, fateful are adjectives describing that which forebodes a serious, significant, and often harmful outcome. Ominous, derived from omen “a predictor of outcomes,” usually suggests evil or damaging eventualities: ominous storm clouds; an ominous silence. Portentous, although it may suggest evil results, often stresses a momentous or very important outcome: a portentous moment in history; a portentous escalation of hostilities. Threatening may suggest calamity or great harm but sometimes mere unpleasantness: a threatening rumble from the volcano; A threatening look from his brother caused him to quickly change the subject. Menacing always suggests serious damage as an outcome: He advanced with a menacing swagger. Fateful most often stresses the great or decisive importance of what it describes: a fateful encounter between two future leaders; a fateful day that changed our world.
Other Word Forms
- ominously adverb
- ominousness noun
- unominous adjective
- unominously adverb
- unominousness noun
Etymology
Origin of ominous
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin ōminōsus “portentous,” equivalent to ōmin- (stem of ōmen ) + -ōsus; omen, -ous
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.
His exit on the doorstep of March is just another ominous sign for the Trojans, who have lost five in a row.
From Los Angeles Times
ClearView Energy Partners opened a missive to clients this weekend with an ominous warning: This time could be different.
But he also added an ominous warning, saying it would be the "only chance for generations" to transform Iranian society.
From BBC
Mr. Turley emphasizes the revolutions’ ominous echoes, especially with an eye to recent social, economic and political trends.
It has ominous echoes of the viral Citrini Research note that rocked markets earlier this week.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
