If you say that something is an omen, you think it indicates what is likely to happen in the future and whether it will be good or bad.
Her appearance at this moment is an omen of disaster.
Could this at last be a good omen for peace? [+ for]
Synonyms: portent, sign, warning, threat More Synonyms of omen
omen in British English
(ˈəʊmən)
noun
1.
a phenomenon or occurrence regarded as a sign of future happiness or disaster
2.
prophetic significance
verb
3. (transitive)
to portend
Word origin
C16: from Latin
omen in American English
(ˈoʊmən)
noun
1.
a thing or happening believed to foretell a future event, either good or evil; augury
verb transitive
2.
to be an omen of; augur
Word origin
L < OL osmen
COBUILD Collocations
omen
lucky omen
Examples of 'omen' in a sentence
omen
The omens are good for the long term.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Once again the omens look good.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
In the past it's been a good omen.
The Sun (2016)
The omens were not good.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
He's a good luck omen!
The Sun (2016)
This is a good omen for me.
The Sun (2010)
The omens look more than a little auspicious.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
It was a place of ill omen.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
They say that can be a lucky omen.
The Sun (2008)
To engage in such activity would cast a bad omen on your society.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
People saw it as a good omen.
The Sun (2012)
Hopefully she will keep coming to watch and be our lucky omen.
The Sun (2012)
This provoked a sudden panic that it could be a bad omen.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Now the management team must decide whether this is a bad omen.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The omens do not look good.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Its success seemed a good omen.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
They are accounted a lucky omen.
Herman Melville Moby Dick (1901)
Like omens of disaster, two plumes of smoke rise.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Perhaps that's a good omen for the future.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
But this hatred mainly comes from the magpie's reputation as an omen of ill fortune.
The Sun (2014)
Not a very good record, and not a very good omen for the future.
Kowalski, Robert E The 8-Week Cholesterol Cure (1990)
With more reed beds being planted by conservationists, the omens look good.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
It's an ill omen indeed.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
I hope it's a happy omen.
The Sun (2016)
This was a happy omen and a Times scoop, that really was exclusive.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Quotations
May the gods avert this omenCiceroThird Philippic
omen: a sign that something will happen if nothing happensAmbrose BierceThe Devil's Dictionary
In other languages
omen
British English: omen NOUN
If you say that something is an omen, you think it indicates what is likely to happen in the future and whether it will be good or bad.
Her appearance at this moment is an omen of disaster.
American English: omen
Brazilian Portuguese: presságio
Chinese: 预兆
European Spanish: presagio
French: présage
German: Omen
Italian: presagio
Japanese: 前兆
Korean: 징조
European Portuguese: presságio
Latin American Spanish: presagio
Chinese translation of 'omen'
omen
(ˈəumən)
n(c)
(= sign) 预(預)兆 (yùzhào) (个(個), gè)
a good/bad omen一个(個)好的/坏(壞)的预(預)兆 (yī gè hǎo de/huài de yùzhào)
(noun)
Definition
a thing or occurrence regarded as a sign of future happiness or disaster
Her appearance at this moment is an omen of disaster.
Synonyms
portent
This is a frightening portent for the future.
sign
It is a sign of things to come.
warning
a warning of impending doom
threat
The people who lived there felt a permanent sense of threat.
indication
He gave no indication that he was ready to compromise.
foreshadowing
foreboding
No one paid any attention to their gloomy forebodings.
harbinger (literary)
a harbinger of winter
presage
Soldiers used to believe a raven was a presage of coming battle.
forewarning
writing on the wall
We should have seen the writing on the wall and guessed what was coming.
prognostication
augury
The auguries of death are gathering around him.
prognostic
foretoken
Quotations
May the gods avert this omen [Cicero – Third Philippic]omen: a sign that something will happen if nothing happens [Ambrose Bierce – The Devil's Dictionary]
Additional synonyms
in the sense of augury
Definition
an omen
The auguries of death are gathering around him.
Synonyms
omen,
sign,
warning,
promise,
token,
herald (literary),
prophecy,
precursor,
forerunner,
portent,
harbinger (literary),
presage,
forewarning,
prognostication,
auspice,
puku (New Zealand)
in the sense of foreboding
No one paid any attention to their gloomy forebodings.
Synonyms
omen,
warning,
prediction,
portent,
sign,
token,
foreshadowing,
presage,
prognostication,
augury,
foretoken
in the sense of harbinger
Definition
a person or thing that announces or indicates the approach of something
a harbinger of winter
Synonyms
sign,
indication,
herald (literary),
messenger,
omen,
precursor,
forerunner,
portent,
foretoken
Synonyms of 'omen'
omen
Explore 'omen' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of indication
He gave no indication that he was ready to compromise.
Synonyms
sign,
mark,
evidence,
warning,
note,
signal,
suggestion,
symptom,
hint,
clue,
manifestation,
omen,
inkling,
portent,
intimation,
forewarning,
wake-up call
in the sense of presage
Definition
an omen
Soldiers used to believe a raven was a presage of coming battle.
Synonyms
omen,
sign,
warning,
forecast,
prediction,
prophecy,
portent,
harbinger (literary),
intimation,
forewarning,
prognostication,
augury,
prognostic,
auspice
in the sense of prognostic
Synonyms
sign,
warning,
forecast,
symptom,
indication,
omen,
portent,
preindication
in the sense of sign
Definition
an omen
It is a sign of things to come.
Synonyms
omen,
warning,
portent,
foreboding,
presage,
forewarning,
writing on the wall,
augury,
auspice,
wake-up call
in the sense of threat
The people who lived there felt a permanent sense of threat.
Synonyms
warning,
foreshadowing,
foreboding
in the sense of warning
Definition
a hint, threat, or advance notice of a possible danger or problem
a warning of impending doom
Synonyms
omen,
sign,
forecast,
indication,
token,
prediction,
prophecy,
premonition,
foreboding,
portent,
presage,
augury,
foretoken,
rahui (New Zealand)
in the sense of writing on the wall
We should have seen the writing on the wall and guessed what was coming.