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Ominous didn't always mean that something bad was about to happen. If you look closely, you can see the omen in ominous, which gave it the original meaning of "being a sign of events to come"—whether good or bad. It ultimately comes from the Latin word omen, which is both an ancestor and a synonym of our omen. Today, however, ominous suggests 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 quality that foreshadows evil or disaster. So when something wicked this way comes, count on ominous to deliver the news aforehand.
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.
Ashley Thess, Outdoor Life, 8 Aug. 2024
Olympic organizers made a big bet in holding the 2024 Paris Olympics surfing competition at an ominous location in French Polynesia nearly 10,000 miles from Paris, with pretty much no space for spectators.
—Dennis Romero, NBC News, 6 Aug. 2024
In the middle of this utterance, the music dips from F major into C minor, giving his reassurances an ominous cast.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2024
The blast was an ominous demonstration of ISIS-K’s lethal capabilities, but U.S. forces were on their way out, leaving the Afghan Taliban as the only entity combating the group on the ground.
—Colin P. Clarke, Foreign Affairs, 1 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for ominous 
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.
Dictionary Entries Near ominous
Cite this Entry
“Ominous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ominous. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.
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ominous
adjective
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