ominous

[om-uh-nuhs]

adjective

1. portending evil or harm; foreboding; threatening; inauspicious.

   an ominous bank of dark clouds.

2. 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.

ominous

/ ˈɒmɪnəs /

adjective

1. foreboding evil

2. serving as or having significance as an omen

Other Word Forms

• ominousness noun
• ominously adverb
• unominous adjective
• unominously adverb
• unominousness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ominous¹

First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin ōminōsus “portentous,” equivalent to ōmin- (stem of ōmen ) + -ōsus; omen, -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of ominous¹

C16: from Latin ōminōsus, from _omen

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

As for the pictures, they’re shrouded in ominous shadows, but although the raven’s eyes burn like embers, the bird does nothing worse than cry “nevermore,” and Lenore, when she appears, looks downright comely.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Intuitively, it signals that ominous signs of euphoria are all around.

Read more on MarketWatch

The orchestral writing, nicely handled by conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, can be colorful, though the ominous Wagner tubas become predictable after a while and the electronica for which Mr. Bates is best known is barely discernible.

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Despite his postgame optimism, before the game Roberts warned of the same ominous signs.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

At another event, pollster Jonathan Jones of JL Partners began his presentation on the attitudes of voters under 40 with the ominous words: "Conservative Party members turn away now."

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• apocalyptic 
• dangerous 
• dark 
• dire 
• dismal 
• gloomy 
• grim 
• haunting 
• perilous 
• portentous 
• prophetic 
• sinister 
• threatening