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.
So, too, is the film’s music, composer Anthony Willis and soundtrack artist Charlie XCX entwining raspy strings with grimy, ominous shudders.
From Los Angeles Times
The Hindenburg Omen isn’t so ominous, after all.
From MarketWatch
After the roar of the earthquake, the silence seemed both comforting and ominous.
From Literature
The U.S. stock market sent an ominous signal this week that could indicate more pain ahead for investors despite Friday’s strong stock-market rebound.
From MarketWatch
After years of the hospital bill hanging over his head like an "ominous dark cloud", King finally felt relief when he called the hospital to pay off the rest of what he owed.
From BBC
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.
