ominous

[om-uh-nuhs] / ˈɒm ə nəs /

ADJECTIVE

menacing, foreboding

Synonyms

STRONGEST

apocalyptic dangerous dark dire dismal gloomy grim haunting perilous portentous prophetic sinister threatening

WEAK

augural baleful baneful clouded direful doomed doomful fateful fearful forbidding hostile ill-boding ill-fated impending inauspicious inhospitable lowering malefic malificent malign minatory precursive premonitory presaging prescient suggestive unfriendly unlucky unpromising unpropitious

Antonyms

STRONGEST

bright cheerful encouraging good happy hopeful joyful light nice pleasant safe secure sunny

WEAK

auspicious lucky promising propitious

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Meanwhile Vance, visiting Hungary, delivered an ominous warning to Iran.

From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026

That’s ominous news for retirees who have a lot of their money invested in regular Treasury, municipal and corporate bonds, as most do.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026

The parallels with the 1970s are ominous: Inflation surges and then retreats but gets stuck a bit too high.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

Inspired by a novella by Soviet physicist Georgy Demidov, who chronicled his own harrowing experiences in the gulag from the late 1930s until the early 1950s, “Two Prosecutors” unfolds with ominous efficiency.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

Scratchy sheets or no scratchy sheets, this was exactly the fresh start I’d been hoping for, and for a moment I forgot about the Cocoon and the ominous shadow it had cast over everything.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Vocabulary lists containing ominous

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