portentous Hear it!

portentous Definition

por·ten·tous (pôr ten′təs)

adjective

  1. that portends evil; ominous
  2. arousing awe or amazement; marvelous
  3. ponderous or pompous; self-important

Etymology: L portentosus < portentum: see portent

Related Forms:

portentous Synonyms

portentous

modif.

  1. Ominous

    ominous, foreboding, prophetic, momentous; see important 1, ominous, sinister.

  2. Unusual

    rare, extraordinary, significant; see unusual 2. See syn. study at ominous.

portentous Usage Examples

Used with adjective complement

  • become: I tell you this is somehow easy tv guide becoming strangely portentous.
  • sound: Looking back, the designation appears and sounds absurdly portentous.

Modifying Another Word

  • strangely: I tell you this is somehow easy tv guide becoming strangely portentous.
  • rather: Then I assumed a rather portentous manner to prepare him.
  • slightly: A Serious Collection These slightly portentous thoughts were provoked by a recent visit to Mr Don Baker's museum in Mill Lane.

Modifies a noun

  • nature: As a public sign, Mather makes an important distinction concerning the portentous nature of the comet of 1680.
  • tone: His precise and portentous tones seemed removed from the crowd trying to move the crowd.
  • title: But what has become obvious in the second part of his series is that the portentous title is a misnomer.
  • event: As in Heaven's Alarm, Mather uses Biblical and historical references to associate the appearance of a comet with portentous events.
  • music: Shore uses that skill here with some deep portentous music to convey the enormous mystical powers wielded by characters and objects in the story.
  • word: I leave you with the portentous words of Martin Luther King spoken on the night before he died.