ominous

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om·i·nous

(ŏm′ə-nəs)

adj.

1. Menacing; threatening: ominous black clouds; ominous rumblings of discontent.

2. 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.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ominous

(ˈɒmɪnəs)

adj

1. foreboding evil

2. serving as or having significance as an omen

[C16: from Latin ōminōsus, from omen]

ˈominously adv

ˈominousness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

om•i•nous

(ˈɒm ə nəs)

adj.

1. portending evil or harm; foreboding; threatening; inauspicious.

2. having the significance of an omen.

[1580–90; < Latin ōminōsus portentous, derivative of ōmin- omen]

om′i•nous•ly, adv.

om′i•nous•ness, n.

syn: ominous, portentous, fateful, threatening describe something that foretells a serious and significant outcome or consequence. ominous suggests an evil or harmful consequence: ominous storm clouds. portentous, although it may point to evil or disaster, more often describes something momentous or important: a portentous change in foreign policy. fateful also stresses the great or decisive importance of what it describes: a fateful encounter between two influential leaders. threatening may point to calamity or mere unpleasantness, but usu. suggests that the outcome is imminent: a threatening rumble from a volcano.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	ominous - 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" menacing, minacious, minatory, sinister, threatening, baleful, forbidding alarming - frightening because of an awareness of danger
	2.	ominous - 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" inauspicious, ill unpropitious - not propitious

ominous

adjective threatening, menacing, sinister, dark, forbidding, grim, fateful, foreboding, unpromising, portentous, baleful, inauspicious, premonitory, unpropitious, minatory, bodeful There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.
promising, encouraging, favourable, auspicious, propitious

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

ominous

adjective

Portending future disaster:

apocalyptic, apocalyptical, baneful, dire, direful, fateful, fire-and-brimstone, grave, hellfire, portentous, unlucky.

Translations

نَذير بالشًّؤْم أو النَّحْس

ildevarslende

ominös unheilvoll

enteellinenpahaenteinenuhkaava

de mauvais augure

óheillavænlegur

infausto nefasto sinistro

draudīgs

illevarslende uhellsvanger

зловещий

uğursuz

不祥的

ominous

[ˈɒmɪnəs] ADJ [development, event] → de mal agüero; [silence] → que no augura nada bueno, que no presagia nada bueno; [sound] → siniestro; [cloud] → amenazador; [tone] (= sinister) → amenazador; (= worrying) → inquietante
that's ominous → eso es una mala señal
it was an ominous sign → era una señal de mal agüero
the silence was ominous → el silencio no auguraba or no presagiaba nada bueno
to look/sound ominous → no augurar or presagiar nada bueno

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

ominous

[ˈɒmɪnəs] adj [sign] → de mauvais augure; [event, development] → inquiétant(e); [silence] → de mauvais augure; [sound] → menaçant(e)
They see this as an ominous development → Ils considèrent ceci comme un développement inquiétant.
There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone → Il y eut un silence de mauvais augure à l'autre bout du fil.
The rolls of distant thunder were growing more ominous → Les grondements du tonnerre au loin se faisaient plus menaçants.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

ominous

adj → bedrohlich, ominös; event, appearance also → drohend; look, voice also → Unheil verkündend, unheilschwanger; sign also → verhängnisvoll; sky → bedrohlich; that’s ominous → das lässt nichts Gutes ahnen; that sounds/looks ominous (fig) → das verspricht nichts Gutes

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

ominous

[ˈɒmɪnəs] adj (sign) → minaccioso/a, infausto/a; (event) → di malaugurio; (look, smile, silence) → sinistro/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

ominous

(ˈominəs) adjective

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

ˈominously adverb

ominous

a. ominoso-a, nefasto-a.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

"I have been bitten by the editor of a partisan journal," was the reply, accompanied by the ominous death-rattle.

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But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling, Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door; Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -- What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

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But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling, Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door; Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore-- What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

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Then followed a torrent of laughter and cheers: Then the ominous words "It's a Boo-"

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It was still, complete, unknown, and full of a life that went on stealthily with a troubling effect of solitude; of a life that seemed unaccountably empty of anything that would stir the thought, touch the heart, give a hint of the ominous sequence of days.

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No sound Of bird now flutters from the hushed hillside; All, all is still, save for the wind that wails And whistles through the long night where the ghosts Hither and thither in the gloom go by, And spirits from the nether world arise Under the ominous clouds.

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On some days there appears the heading "Overdue" - an ominous threat of loss and sorrow trembling yet in the balance of fate.

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--Rather ominous in that particular connexion, thought I.

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Its light struck a ghostly white beam across my cabin, and made an ominous shape on the planking by my bunk.

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The war-cloud hovered dark and ominous. The stage was set for a world-catastrophe, for in all the world were hard times, labor troubles, perishing middle classes, armies of unemployed, clashes of economic interests in the world-market, and mutterings and rumblings of the socialist revolution.*

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I felt the ominous future coming close, chilling me with an unutterable awe, forcing on me the conviction of an unseen design in the long series of complications which had now fastened round us.

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There seemed to be something back of the simple statement--an ominous and portending "something."

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