omen

American  

[oh-muhn] / ˈoʊ mən /

noun

• omens
  plural

1. 

   anything perceived or happening that is believed to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; portent.

   Synonyms:

   foreboding, augury

2. a prognostic.

3. prophetic significance; presage.

   a bird of ill omen.

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verb (used with object)

1. to be an omen of; portend.

2. to divine, as if from omens.

omen British  

/ ˈəʊmən /

noun

1. a phenomenon or occurrence regarded as a sign of future happiness or disaster

2. prophetic significance

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verb

1. (tr) to portend

Synonym Usage

See sign.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unomened
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• omens
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of omen

First recorded in 1575–85, omen is from the Latin word ōmen

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Explanation

An omen is an event or happening that you take as sign of something to come. It’s believed to be a bad omen if a black cat crosses your path or if it rains on your wedding day. Omens generally get a bad rap — that's probably because a lot of them predict bad stuff, at least according to superstition. But the interpretation of omens really depends on the country and culture. What's considered an ominous sign in one place might mean a lifetime of good luck somewhere else. Oscar Wilde once wrote that, “There is no such thing as an omen. Destiny does not send us heralds. She is too wise or too cruel for that.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

omen omens

The goal, Klauss’ 10th of the year, matched a career high in a career-low 16 games and it was a good omen for the Galaxy, who have yet to lose this season when scoring first.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026

This recent divergence certainly appears to be a very positive omen, as you can see from the accompanying chart.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

It means that vultures are a good omen when a sacrifice has been made because their presence suggests that the deity has accepted the sacrifice and heard the residents' appeal to its power.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

Through years of extraordinary political upheaval, the sound engineer at No. 10 Downing Street has served as a chiseled omen of great change.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

It is a Chimera, a Griffon, a Sphinx, a Ganesha, a Peruvian god, a Ch’i-lin, an omen of good fortune, a wish for the world.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

Successive dynasties employed specialists to monitor celestial events because unusual phenomena in the sky were often interpreted as omens.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2026

There are bad omens for future tax policy, too.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

An omen among omens: Mid-dog-walk that day, I spot a onesie that reads “Milk Drunk” and shudder at the impulse to recruit our newborns into low-key bacchanalia.

From Slate ● May 10, 2026

The people of r/Superstonk are dogmatic, unforgiving of alternative views, indulgent of auguries and omens, simultaneously convinced of their righteousness yet constantly fretting about their opponents’ vast and mysterious powers to undermine them.

From Slate ● Oct. 10, 2024

There was a sinister and unlikely coincidence exposed that was too diabolical in implication to be anything less than the most hideous of omens.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

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Related Words

• harbinger
• indication
• portent
• premonition

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