portentous en · ADJ
Pronunciation
Etymology
Of multiple origins: * Borrowed from Latin portentōsus, from portentus (“predicted”) + -ōsus. Compare earlier portentuous (via Middle English from Latin portentuōsus). By surface analysis, portent + -ous. * Borrowed from French portentueux
Meanings
-
Of momentous or ominous significance.
The chaplain's first mention of the name Yossarian! had tolled deep in his memory like a portentous gong.
1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “Chief White Halfoat”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page page:If the siege of Boston seemed to end in anticlimax, with the sudden retreat of British military forces, the siege of New York City seen from the inside, from under siege, seemed infinitely more portentous: “The Day is Come that in all Probility on which Depends the Salvation of this Countery.”
2009, Konstantin Dierks, “Revolution and War”, in In My Power: Letter Writing and Communications in Early America, Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN, page 225:Well may it sort [be fitting] that this portentous figure comes armed through our watch, so like the King that was and is the question of these wars.
c. 1599-1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, act 1, scene 1; republished as Hamlet, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1992, →ISBN, page 4:The main problem with To Believe, however, is that by combining two of their previous styles, the Cinematic Orchestra have landed on a sound that has become ubiquitous in the years they’ve been away – portentous, restrained and impeccably tasteful electronica.
2019 March 15, Rachel Aroesti, “The Cinematic Orchestra: To Believe review – soundscape originators' accomplished return”, in The Guardian:It is no longer in my possession, but my memory holds almost every word of its portentous message; and again I affirm my confidence in the sanity of the man who wrote it.
1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 2, in The Whisperer in Darkness:
- Ominously prophetic.
- Puffed up with vanity.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most portentous | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more portentous | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Antonyms
humble · unremarkable · insignificant · trivial
Deriveds
unportentous · portentousness · portentously
Relateds
ominous · foreboding · portent · augury · pretentious
Synonyms
innegligible · significant · fatefraught · epochful · portentous · central · presagious · ill-fated · necessary · prognosticatory · dire · critical · ill-starred · extraordinary · fatesome · inauspicious · boding · omenic · fatal · foreboding · brooding · noted · essential · paramount · momentous · high on the totem pole · big · prodigious · heavy · ominous · noticeable · significant · sinister · observable · relevant · salient · meaningful · valuable · sullen · ill-omened · outstanding · bodeful · fateful · baleful · vain · inauspicate · presageful · predictive · ill-boding · weighty · augurous · divine · remarkable · pertinent · historic · nefastous · star-crossed · consequential · prophetic · ominous · fateful · premonitory · crucial · life-or-death · vital · foreshadowing · key · disastrous · pivotal · unignorable
Translations (29)
sh zlòguk (ominous; portending evil) · bg важничещ (vain; marvelous; prodigious; wonderful) · nb svulstig (vain; marvelous; prodigious; wonderful) · fi enteellinen (ominous; portending evil) · es portentoso (ominous; portending evil) · sh zlòslutan (ominous; portending evil) · fi pahaenteinen (ominous; portending evil) · nb oppstyltet (vain; marvelous; prodigious; wonderful) · bg злокобен (ominous; portending evil) · de eitel (vain; marvelous; prodigious; wonderful) · ja 前兆的な (ominous; portending evil) · hu vészjósló (ominous; portending evil) · bg зловещ (ominous; portending evil) · eo malbonaŭgura (ominous; portending evil) · pl złowieszczy (ominous; portending evil) · de wichtigtuerisch (vain; marvelous; prodigious; wonderful) · nb høyttravende (vain; marvelous; prodigious; wonderful) · nl onheilspellend (ominous; portending evil) · bg надут (vain; marvelous; prodigious; wonderful) · sh зло̀гук (ominous; portending evil) · ca portentós (vain; marvelous; prodigious; wonderful) · it portentoso (ominous; portending evil) · de hochtrabend (vain; marvelous; prodigious; wonderful) · de unheildrohend (ominous; portending evil) · es portentoso (vain; marvelous; prodigious; wonderful) · de bedeutungsschwer (ominous; portending evil) · yue 凶兆嘅 (ominous; portending evil) · ru злове́щий (ominous; portending evil) · sh зло̀слутан (ominous; portending evil)