ominously
Americanadverb
Explanation
Ominously is a word to describe how something threatening appears. If you're golfing and dark gray clouds ominously appear, you'd better call it a day. Originating from the Latin word ominosus, meaning "full of foreboding," the adverb ominously indicates when an action is done in an ominous manner, possibly indicating danger or evil is in the future. You might want to reconsider that moonlit hike if a wolf ominously howls just as you are about to begin. If gigantic waves are ominously crashing into the shore, it would be wise to devote the day to building a sand castle rather than snorkeling.
Vocabulary lists containing ominously
Of Mice and Men
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Tangerine
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
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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.
Ominously, Alcaraz is still getting better and he has developed nerves of steel, refusing to give up even when the odds are against him.
From Barron's • Jan. 31, 2026
Ominously for drivers, road maintenance company Amey notes that "significant delays" are anticipated at this time.
From BBC • Sep. 7, 2025
Ominously, the Paraná delta — the second largest river in South America after the Amazon — caught fire several years ago amid terrible drought.
From Salon • Sep. 7, 2024
Ominously, Wright informed an attorney for Prenda principal John L. Steele, “If you say answering these kinds of questions would incriminate him, I’m inclined to take you at your word.”
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2023
Ominously, there were many cobwebbed boxes piled on a table where Harry was clearly supposed to sit; they had an aura of tedious, hard, and pointless work about them.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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.
