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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

om·i·nous

Audio Help [om-uh-nuh

–adjective

1.	portending evil or harm; foreboding; threatening; inauspicious: an ominous bank of dark clouds.

2.	having the significance of an omen.

[Origin: 1580–90; < L ōminōsus portentous, equiv. to ōmin- (s. of ōmen) omen + -ōsus -ous

]

—Related forms

om·i·nous·ly, adverb

om·i·nous·ness, noun

—Synonyms Ominous, portentous, threatening, menacing, fateful are adjectives describing that which forebodes a serious, significant, and often harmful outcome. Ominous, derived from omen “a predictor of outcomes,” usually suggests evil or damaging eventualities: ominous storm clouds; an ominous silence. Portentous, although it may suggest evil results, often stresses a momentous or very important outcome: a portentous moment in history; a portentous escalation of hostilities. Threatening may suggest calamity or great harm but sometimes mere unpleasantness: a threatening rumble from the volcano; A threatening look from his brother caused him to quickly change the subject. Menacing always suggests serious damage as an outcome: a disease menacing the entire population; He advanced with a menacing swagger. Fateful most often stresses the great or decisive importance of what it describes: a fateful encounter between two future leaders; a fateful day that changed our world.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Ominous

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

om·i·nous Audio Help (ŏm'ə-nəs) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Menacing; threatening: ominous black clouds; ominous rumblings of discontent.
Of or being an omen, especially an evil one.

[Latin ōminōsus, from ōmen, ōmin-, omen.]

om'i·nous·ly adv., om'i·nous·ness n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ominous

1589, from L. ominosus "full of foreboding," from omen (gen. ominis) "foreboding" (see omen).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

ominous
adjective
1.	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" [syn: baleful]
2.	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" [syn: ill]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version) - Cite This Source - Share This
ominous [ˈominəs] adjective

giving a suggestion about something bad that is going to happen
Example: an ominous cloud; an ominous silence

Arabic:	نَذير بالشًّؤْم أو النَّحْس
Chinese (Simplified):	不祥的
Chinese (Traditional):	不祥的
Czech:	zlověstný
Danish:	ildevarslende
Dutch:	onheilspellend
Estonian:	pahaendeline
Finnish:	pahaenteinen
French:	de mauvais augure
German:	unheilvoll
Greek:	δυσοίωνος, απειλητικός
Hungarian:	baljós(latú)
Icelandic:	óheillavænlegur
Indonesian:	beralamat buruk
Italian:	di malaugurio*

Japanese:	不吉な
Korean:	불길한
Latvian:	draudīgs
Lithuanian:	grėsmingas
Norwegian:	illevarslende, uhellsvanger
Polish:	złowieszczy
Portuguese (Brazil):	agourento
Portuguese (Portugal):	agourento
Romanian:	de rău augur
Russian:	зловещий, угрожающий
Slovak:	zlovestný
Slovenian:	zlovešč
Spanish:	de mal agüero, siniestro
Swedish:	olycksbådande
Turkish:	uğursuz

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Ominous

Om"i*nous\, a. [L. ominosus, fr. omen. See Omen.] Of or pertaining to an omen or to omens; being or exhibiting an omen; significant; portentous; -- formerly used both in a favorable and unfavorable sense; now chiefly in the latter; foreboding or foreshowing evil; inauspicious; as, an ominous dread.

He had a good ominous name to have made a peace. --Bacon.

In the heathen worship of God, a sacrifice without a heart was accounted ominous. --South. -- Om"i*nous*ly, adv. -- Om"i*nous*ness, n.

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