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IELTS BNC: 9650 COCA: 8379

ominous

adjective

om·​i·​nous ˈä-mə-nəs How to pronounce ominous (audio)
: being or exhibiting an omen : portentous
especially : foreboding or foreshadowing evil : inauspicious
ominously adverb
ominousness noun

Did you know?

The Difference Between Ominous, Portentous, and Fateful

Ominous didn't always mean "foreshadowing evil." If you look closely, you can see the omen in ominous, which gave it the original meaning of "presaging events to come"—whether good or bad. It is ultimately derived from the Latin word omen, which is both an ancestor and a synonym of our omen. Today, however, ominous tends to suggest a menacing or threatening aspect. Its synonyms portentous and fateful are used similarly, but ominous is the most menacing of the three. It implies an alarming character that foreshadows evil or disaster. Portentous suggests being frighteningly big or impressive, but seldom gives a definite forewarning of calamity. Fateful implies that something is of momentous or decisive importance.

Choose the Right Synonym for ominous

ominous, portentous, fateful mean having a menacing or threatening aspect.

ominous implies having a menacing, alarming character foreshadowing evil or disaster.

ominous rumblings from the volcano

portentous suggests being frighteningly big or impressive but now seldom definitely connotes forewarning of calamity.

an eerie and portentous stillness

fateful suggests being of momentous or decisive importance.

the fateful conference that led to war

Example Sentences

Not many sets of initials became universally recognizable during the twentieth century, and those that did often had ominous overtones, from SS to KGB. Geoffrey Wheatcroft, Atlantic, March 2001 While politicians and multinational corporations extol the virtues of NAFTA … the ominous curtain is already up in a six-mile section at the border crossing at Mexicali … Leslie Marmon Silko, Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit, 1996 Fighting against sensations that sought to claim him, he moved nervously and the note in his hand rattled with a dry and ominous whisper. Richard Wright, Rite of Passage, 1994 Arranged in two long and ominous rows, the branding irons dangled from the ceiling in the center of the room, suggesting some sort of fence or jail … Lewis H. Lapham, Harper's, May 1993 an ominous threat of war He spoke in ominous tones. See More
Recent Examples on the Web Though its name is ominous, 'Pandora's Box' is a miniature hosta that's sure to bring lots of joy to your garden. Sheryl Geerts, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 Aug. 2022 Even more ominous are the underfunded liabilities for Social Security and Medicare, which will impose severe burdens on the next generation of Americans. Richard Vedder, WSJ, 19 Aug. 2022 But that ticking, which was in fact a silence, something like acceptance, was ominous. Paul Theroux, Harper’s Magazine , 17 Aug. 2022 Sinema’s response to the new Inflation Reduction Act has been ominous. Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 28 July 2022 Gaga’s set looks like some type of Berlin nightclub: imposing and ominous. Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 12 Aug. 2022 Where a god called Desire (Mason Alexander Park), who's been surveilling Dream for several episodes, says something ominous about having a plan to eliminate Dream once and for all. Alex Raiman, EW.com, 5 Aug. 2022 Woodring’s world, the Unifactor—remains ambiguous, ominous, and, more often than not, cute. Sam Thielman, The New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2022 Placed in the pristine atrium, Carroll’s constructions appear both incongruous and a bit ominous, as if the artist had fast-forwarded to the building’s eventual ruin. Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 22 July 2022 See More

Word History

Etymology

see omen

First Known Use

1580, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of ominous was in 1580

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