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

Derived Forms

• ˈominously, adverb
• ˈominousness, noun

Other Words From

• omi·nous·ly adverb
• omi·nous·ness noun
• un·omi·nous adjective
• un·omi·nous·ly adverb
• un·omi·nous·ness 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

In her first movie in more than a decade, decorated New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion directs Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst in an ominous, gorgeously saturated Western set in 1920s Montana.

From Time

There is definitely an ominous butt hanging over our future.

From Voice of San Diego

The other, more ominous reason is we may well need to pull the planet back after it blows through dangerous temperature thresholds.

From MIT Technology Review

This ancient crow has just cast the soul into an elongated, particularly ominous door.

From Washington Post

I guess the skincare die hards have finally gotten to me with their ominous messaging about how excessive sunlight can damage my hide in ways that are undetectable early on but will come back to haunt me later in life.

From Outside Online

In the back of my mind I was wondering how much time we had before there might be an ominous knock at the door.

From The Daily Beast

In The Lodger an ominous character paced the floor, which Hitchcock constructed of glass.

From The Daily Beast

He wrote that he deserved to die and alluded to a ominous plan that he had backed out of twice already.

From The Daily Beast

The drumbeat and synth bass are as insistent as they are ominous.

From The Daily Beast

Other hints at the changing war are less ominous, but obnoxious nonetheless.

From The Daily Beast

Also, some ominous comments on what armies spend and what Governments scrimp:—that is ammunition.

From Project Gutenberg

They were followed by a little dried-up Italian army surgeon, who carried under his arm an ominous-looking black case.

From Project Gutenberg

Tony was gay, light-hearted as usual, belying Mrs. Haughstone's ominous prediction.

From Project Gutenberg

The glowing heavens, luminous athwart the clouds of fine, suspended sand, laid this ominous hint of dream upon the entire day.

From Project Gutenberg

Only the western heavens, where the sun sank in a red mass of ominous splendour, was alive with energy.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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