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[ adjective ] threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
Examples "a baleful look" "forbidding thunderclouds" "his tone became menacing" "ominous rumblings of discontent" "sinister storm clouds" "a sinister smile" "his threatening behavior" Used in print (Frieda Arkin, "The Light of the Sea," in The...)The old_woman , stubbornly reigning in the house above the crashing waters took_on an ominous reality . (James Thurber, "The Future, If Any, of Comedy,"...)It now means ominous , as when one speaks of a funny sound in the motor ; disturbing , as when one says that a friend is acting funny ; and frightening , as when a wife tells the police that it is funny , but her husband has n't been home for two days and nights '' . Related terms |
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[ adjective ] presaging ill-fortune
Synonyms Examples "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" Related terms |
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