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.
Synonyms
Examples of ominous in a Sentence
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
WSJ, 1 Jan. 2024
All that remained on the serving tray was an ominous eyeball.
—Samantha Chery, Washington Post, 29 Dec. 2023
Modern magi gave us, in the nineteenth century, the ominous device of the telegraph.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 24 Dec. 2023
Now there were reports of followers drinking industrial-bleach concoctions, of ominous notes left behind.
—Charles Homans, New York Times, 22 Dec. 2023
Volcanic eruption sends lava flying in Iceland after weeks of earthquakes
A volcanic eruption unfolded in Iceland in late December after weeks of earthquakes and ominous signals, such as smoke rising out from cracks in roads.
—Greg Norman, Fox News, 21 Dec. 2023
Lee Jin-man/AP South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s team has struck a frank and ominous tone in response to North Korea’s combination of belligerence and improving missile arsenal.
—Joel Gehrke, Washington Examiner, 15 Dec. 2023
As the demands on the Golden Fish escalate, an ominous note creeps into the musical underscoring, which otherwise often evokes comic operetta.
—Celia Wren, Washington Post, 12 Dec. 2023
The ominous statement from Representative Elise Stefanik, a Republican from upstate New York, came moments after University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill announced her resignation on Saturday.
—Janet Lorin, Fortune, 10 Dec. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ominous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Podcast
Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!
Dictionary Entries Near ominous
Cite this Entry
“Ominous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ominous. Accessed 9 Jan. 2024.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
ominous
adjective
More from Merriam-Webster on ominous
Nglish: Translation of ominous for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of ominous for Arabic Speakers
Share