If you describe something as ominous, you mean that it worries you because it makes you think that something unpleasant is going to happen.
There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.
The rolls of distant thunder were growing more ominous.
Synonyms: threatening, menacing, sinister, dark More Synonyms of ominous
ominouslyadverb [ADVERB adjective, ADVERB with verb]
The bar seemed ominously quiet.
Ominously, car sales slumped in August.
He warned ominously that the arts were in great danger.
Synonyms: threateningly, grimly, menacingly, darkly More Synonyms of ominous
ominous in British English
(ˈɒmɪnəs)
adjective
1.
foreboding evil
2.
serving as or having significance as an omen
Derived forms
ominously (ˈominously)
adverb
ominousness (ˈominousness)
noun
Word origin
C16: from Latin ōminōsus, from omen
ominous in American English
(ˈɑmənəs)
adjective
of or serving as an omen; esp., having the character of an evil omen; threatening; sinister
SYNONYMY NOTE: ominous implies a threatening character but does not necessarily connote a disastrous outcome[the request was met by an ominous silence]; portentous literally implies a foreshadowing, especially of evil, but is now more often usedof that which arouses awe or amazement because of its prodigious or marvelous character[a portentous event]; fateful may imply a fatal character or control by fate, but is now usually applied to thatwhich is of momentous or decisive significance [a fateful truce conference]; foreboding implies a portent or presentiment of something evil or harmful [a foreboding anxiety]
Derived forms
ominously (ˈominously)
adverb
ominousness (ˈominousness)
noun
Word origin
L ominosus
Examples of 'ominous' in a sentence
ominous
The lightning cannot be foreseen; the thunder is something ominous, rumbling into view.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It looked ominous for Blues' new gaffer with five minutes on the clock.
The Sun (2017)
Winter is coming, clearly, but is it just the season or a sign of something more ominous?
The Sun (2016)
To a trader this sort of opening sounds ominous.
Edward Beauclerk Maurice THE LAST OF THE GENTLEMEN ADVENTURERS: Coming of Age in the Arctic (2004)
What more ominous sign of intelligence should we desire?
Zindell, David The Broken God (1993)
There is something ominous about the cream envelope on my doormat.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The plan had sounded ominous to begin with.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The torrential rain seemed to be an ominous sign of the battle to come.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The other is that something more ominous is going on.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
It was an ominous sign for the home side.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
But this silly story seems to me an indication of something more ominous.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
But there were ominous signs of the troubles to come.
Grenville, J. A. S. The Collins History of the World in the 20th Century (1994)
Which sounds ominous for the moles.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
They have been battling injuries all season, but they are beginning to look ominous.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
It was already beginning to look ominous for the Baggies.
The Sun (2014)
It isn't meant to sound as ominous as it does.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
I should have listened to this ominous warning.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Two things look ominous, though.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Clearly something ominous was brewing.
Patrick Bishop FIGHTER BOYS: Saving Britain 1940 (2003)
An ominous quiet descended on the Cabin, and we stared at each other wildly.
Baxter, Stephen Anti-Ice (1993)
Stop he did, though, when those ominous dark blue shirts came into view.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Somehow this transmitted itself to the players, who began tweeting similarly ominous warnings, apparently having taken to heart the suggestion that they had been unconvincing and lax.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
In other languages
ominous
British English: ominous ADJECTIVE
If you describe something as ominous, you mean that it worries you because it makes you think that something unpleasant is going to happen.
There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.
American English: ominous
Brazilian Portuguese: preocupante
Chinese: 不祥的
European Spanish: de mal agüero
French: de mauvais augure
German: ominös
Italian: minaccioso
Japanese: 不吉な
Korean: 불길한
European Portuguese: preocupante
Latin American Spanish: de mal agüero
Chinese translation of 'ominous'
ominous
(ˈɔmɪnəs)
adj
[sign, event, silence, warning]不祥的 (bùxiáng de)
[clouds, smoke]预(預)示的 (yùshì de)
(adjective)
Definition
warning of evil
There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.
Synonyms
threatening
a threatening atmosphere of rising tension and stress
menacing
His bushy eyebrows gave his face a menacing look.
sinister
There was something sinister about him that she found disturbing.
dark
I shot him a dark glance.
forbidding
There was something severe and forbidding about her face.
grim
fateful
foreboding
unpromising
His business career had distinctly unpromising beginnings.
portentous
portentous prophecies of doom
baleful
He had a baleful look.
inauspicious
The meeting got off to an inauspicious start.
premonitory
unpropitious
minatory
a heavy and minatory silence
bodeful
Opposites
promising
,
encouraging
,
favourable
,
auspicious
,
propitious
Additional synonyms
in the sense of baleful
Definition
harmful, menacing, or vindictive
He had a baleful look.
Synonyms
menacing,
threatening,
dangerous,
frightening,
evil,
deadly,
forbidding,
intimidating,
harmful,
sinister,
ominous,
malignant,
hurtful,
vindictive,
pernicious (formal),
malevolent,
noxious,
venomous,
ruinous,
intimidatory,
minatory,
maleficent,
bodeful,
louring or lowering,
minacious
in the sense of dark
Definition
sullen or angry
I shot him a dark glance.
Synonyms
angry,
threatening,
forbidding,
frowning,
ominous,
dour,
scowling,
sullen,
glum,
glowering,
sulky
in the sense of forbidding
Definition
severe and threatening in appearance or manner
There was something severe and forbidding about her face.
Synonyms
threatening,
severe,
frightening,
hostile,
grim,
menacing,
sinister,
daunting,
ominous,
unfriendly,
foreboding,
baleful,
bodeful
Synonyms of 'ominous'
ominous
Explore 'ominous' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of inauspicious
Definition
unlucky
The meeting got off to an inauspicious start.
Synonyms
unpromising,
bad,
unfortunate,
discouraging,
unlucky,
ominous,
unfavourable,
black,
untoward,
ill-omened,
unpropitious,
bodeful
in the sense of menacing
His bushy eyebrows gave his face a menacing look.
Synonyms
threatening,
dangerous,
alarming,
frightening,
forbidding,
looming,
intimidating,
ominous,
baleful,
intimidatory,
minatory,
bodeful,
louring or lowering,
minacious
in the sense of minatory
Definition
threatening or menacing
a heavy and minatory silence
Synonyms
threatening,
dangerous,
menacing,
baleful,
minacious,
minatorial
in the sense of portentous
Definition
of great or ominous significance
portentous prophecies of doom
Synonyms
significant,
alarming,
sinister,
ominous,
important,
threatening,
crucial (informal),
forbidding,
menacing,
momentous,
fateful,
minatory,
bodeful
in the sense of sinister
Definition
threatening or suggesting evil or harm
There was something sinister about him that she found disturbing.
Synonyms
threatening,
evil,
menacing,
forbidding,
dire,
ominous,
malign,
disquieting,
malignant,
malevolent,
baleful,
injurious,
bodeful
in the sense of unpromising
Definition
not likely to turn out well
His business career had distinctly unpromising beginnings.