ominous
omi·nous (äm′ə nəs)
adjective
of or serving as an omen; esp., having the character of an evil omen; threatening; sinister
Etymology: L ominosus
ominous
modif.
Antonyms
ominous implies a threatening character but does not necessarily connote a disastrous outcome the request was met by an ominous silence; portentous may imply a foreshadowing, esp. of evil, but is now more often used of that which arouses awe or amazement because of its prodigious or marvelous character a portentous event; fateful may imply a fatal character or control by fate, but is now usually applied to that which is of momentous or decisive significance a fateful decision; foreboding implies a portent or presentiment of something evil or harmful a foreboding anxiety
Modifying Another Word
- rather: Closing date is a rather ominous Friday 13th April.
- slightly: There was also a fair amount of flood debris everywhere, which was slightly ominous.
- very: This is beginning to look very ominous for Doherty.
- increasingly: One might think Seattle's increasingly ominous test at Kansas City on Sunday without more.
- quite: There is another, quite ominous reason for immediate action.
- too: Nothing is too ominous, except Mars conjunct Venus.
Preposition: for
- future: Interpretations The mutiny by a section of the military could be ominous for the future of democracy in the country.
Adjective complement with noun phrase
- look: There are also helmeted police surrounding the Square, looking a touch ominous.
Modifies a noun
- portent: I just hope the reduced number of routes this year is not a ominous portent for 1990.
- rumbling: As we sit down to eat clouds begin to gather and there are ominous rumblings from Zimbabwe.
- understatement: This lousy economy heavy with ominous understatement i respect what tables at the.
- cloud: A vast, ominous dust cloud was crowding out three quarters of the sky in the north west.
- shadow: Its threat casts an ominous shadow on the work done by all journalists.
- silence: The ice - at your heart an ominous silence.
Used with adjective complement
- look: Prior to the event, the forecast looked ominous to say the least.
- seem: The music seemed more ominous to me than the ominous scenes in the film.
- sound: New ways of working for social work sounds ominous.
- become: As July 12 drew closer the threat of even more serious violence became ominous.
- turn: A day later the forecast had turned ominous - heavy rains all weekend and flooding in the metro area.
- appear: One of the beings in front of her appeared less ominous, more compassionate.
For an idea ever to be fashionable is ominous, since it must afterwards be always old-fashioned.
Browse dictionary entries near ominous
- omissible
- omission
- omissive
- omit
- omitted
- omitted dividend
- omitting
- ommatidium
- ommatophore
- Ommiad
