ominous Hear it!

ominous Definition

omi·nous (ämə nəs)

adjective

of or serving as an omen; esp., having the character of an evil omen; threatening; sinister

Etymology: L ominosus

ominous Related Forms
omi·nously adverb omi·nous·ness noun
ominous Synonyms

ominous

modif.

foreboding, portentous, threatening, forbidding, fateful, baleful, menacing, sinister, dark, black, lowering, suggestive, ever-threatening, premonitory, dire, direful, ill-omened, grim, gloomy, haunting, perilous, ill-starred, ill-fated, impending, looming, fearful, clouded, unpropitious, inauspicious, unlucky, forewarning, foreshadowing, presaging, prophetic, of evil portent, apocalyptic; see also dangerous 2, dismal 1, doomed, frightful 1, oracular 2, sinister.

Antonyms favorable*, encouraging, auspicious.

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

ominous Usage Examples

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.
ominous Quotes

For an idea ever to be fashionable is ominous, since it must afterwards be always old-fashioned.

—Sandys, George

Browse dictionary entries near ominous

  1. omicron
  2. OMG
  3. omertà
  4. omer
  5. omentum
  6. omen
  7. omelet
  8. omega-3 (fatty acid)
  9. omega-3
  10. omega
  1. omissible
  2. omission
  3. omissive
  4. omit
  5. omitted
  6. omitted dividend
  7. omitting
  8. ommatidium
  9. ommatophore
  10. Ommiad