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

• ominously adverb
• ominousness noun
• 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

But the evasion of direct funding cuts and the ominous threats of administration directives comes at a different expense, one that is perhaps costlier than any financial sum.

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The Soviets had been caught unprepared by Hitler in World War II. “Like twenty years ago,” the statement continued, “ominous clouds of war are once again overhanging the approaches to our motherland.”

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Recently, a cluster of ominous signs tied to the number of stocks involved in the rally were spotted.

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And there was an ominous warning for opposition defenders as Haaland said he was "definitely" getting better as a striker.

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Beneath the fact of poverty in America lies something even more ominous: the ideology of necropolitics.

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Related Words

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