What does ominous mean?

Definitions for ominous
ˈɒm ə nəsomi·nous

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word ominous.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. baleful, forbidding, menacing, minacious, minatory, ominous, sinister, threateningadjective

    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments

    "a baleful look"; "forbidding thunderclouds"; "his tone became menacing"; "ominous rumblings of discontent"; "sinister storm clouds"; "a sinister smile"; "his threatening behavior"; "ugly black clouds"; "the situation became ugly"

  2. ill, inauspicious, ominousadjective

    presaging ill fortune

    "ill omens"; "ill predictions"; "my words with inauspicious thunderings shook heaven"- P.B.Shelley; "a dead and ominous silence prevailed"; "a by-election at a time highly unpropitious for the Government"

Wiktionary

  1. ominousadjective

    Of or pertaining to an omen or to omens; being or exhibiting an omen; significant.

  2. ominousadjective

    Specifically, giving indication of a coming ill; being an evil omen; threatening; portentous; inauspicious.

  3. Etymology: From ominosus, from omen, from os + -men

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Ominousadjective

    Etymology: from omen.

    Let me be duke of Clarence;
    For Glo’ster’s dukedom is ominous. William Shakespeare, Henry VI.

    Pomfret, thou bloody prison,
    Fatal and ominous to noble peers. William Shakespeare, Rich. III.

    These accidents the more rarely they happen, the more ominous are they esteemed, because they are never observed but when sad events do ensue. John Hayward.

    Roving the Celtic and Iberian fields,
    He last betakes him to this ominous wood. John Milton, Poems.

    As in the heathen worship of God, a sacrifice without an heart was accounted ominous; so in the christian worship of him, an heart without a sacrifice is worthless. Robert South, Serm.

    Pardon a father’s tears,
    And give them to Charinus’ memory;
    May they not prove as ominous to thee. Dryden.

    Though he had a good ominous name to have made a peace, nothing followed. Francis Bacon, Henry VII.

Wikipedia

  1. ominous

    An omen (also called portent) is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient times, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages from the gods.These omens include natural phenomena, for example an eclipse, abnormal births of animals (especially humans) and behaviour of the sacrificial lamb on its way to the slaughter. Specialists, known as diviners, variously existed to interpret these omens. They would also use an artificial method, for example, a clay model of a sheep liver, to communicate with their gods in times of crisis. They would expect a binary answer, either yes or no, favourable or unfavourable. They did these to predict what would happen in the future and to take action to avoid disaster.Though the word omen is usually devoid of reference to the change's nature, hence being possibly either "good" or "bad", the term is more often used in a foreboding sense, as with the word ominous. The word comes from its Latin equivalent omen, of otherwise uncertain origin.

ChatGPT

  1. ominous

    Ominous refers to something that gives a feeling or impression of foreboding or an impending threat. It suggests a sense of impending danger, evil, or harm. Ominous often relates to situations, events, or signs that make one feel anxious, uneasy, or apprehensive about what may occur in the future.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Ominous

    om′in-us, adj. pertaining to, or containing, an omen: foreboding evil: inauspicious.—adv. Om′inously.—n. Om′inousness.

How to pronounce ominous?

How to say ominous in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of ominous in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of ominous in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of ominous in a Sentence

  1. Abdullah Karasu:

    But I doubt it's finished ... This silence is ominous. It's almost as unnerving as the rockets landing.

  2. Peter Turkson:

    He is not making some political comment about the relative merits of capitalism and communism. He is rather restating ancient biblical teaching, he is pointing to the ominous signs in nature that suggest that humanity may now have tilled too much and kept too little.

  3. Sam Bullard:

    We don't think it will detract from the possibility that the Fed is considering a September rate hike, only if we saw ominous signs of a deterioration elsewhere in the data.

  4. Jasmine Crenshaw:

    The statements made by the deputy police chief and the event’s ostentatious show of power send an ominous, frightening message: that, as an official stance, law enforcement will not tolerate expressions acknowledging our nation’s history of unequal treatment and systematic oppression, the magnitude of this event chills the belief that police should be held accountable when they abuse their power or discriminate against people of color, and pressures student athletes to act as props of the police.

  5. Srikanth Kondapalli:

    The second informal meeting as such is significant given these ominous signals at bilateral, regional and global levels, stabilizing relations is important as both are seized with a number of issues – domestic as well as regional.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

ominous#10000#31860#100000

Translations for ominous

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for ominous »

Translation

Find a translation for the ominous definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"ominous." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/ominous>.

Discuss these ominous definitions with the community:

0 Comments

    Are we missing a good definition for ominous? Don't keep it to yourself...

    Image or illustration of

    ominous

    Credit »

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Browse Definitions.net

    Quiz

    Are you a words master?

    »
    used of men; markedly masculine in appearance or manner
    A contiguous
    B butch
    C elusive
    D appellative

    Nearby & related entries:

    Alternative searches for ominous: