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Ominous synonyms

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portentous
Of the nature of or constituting a portent; foreboding:
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  1. Of the nature of or constituting a portent; foreboding:
  2. Marked by pompousness; pretentiously weighty.
  3. Full of unspecifiable significance; exciting wonder and awe:
grim
Dealing with unpleasant subjects; frightful; ghastly
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  1. Dealing with unpleasant subjects; frightful; ghastly
  2. Repellent or horrifying:
  3. Appearing stern, forbidding, harsh, etc.
sinister
Threatening harm, evil, or misfortune; ominous; portentous
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  1. Threatening harm, evil, or misfortune; ominous; portentous
  2. Portending misfortune or disaster; ominous:
  3. Wicked, evil, or dishonest, esp. in some dark, mysterious way
dark
Sullen or threatening:
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  1. Sullen or threatening:
  2. Almost black
  3. Reflecting only a small fraction of incident light; tending toward black:
black
Very dark
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  1. Very dark
  2. Being of the color black, producing or reflecting comparatively little light and having no predominant hue.
  3. Being or characterized by morbid or grimly satiric humor:
lowering
That lowers or frowns.
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  1. That lowers or frowns.
  2. Scowling; frowning darkly
  3. Dark, as if about to rain or snow; overcast
suggestive
Calling to mind sexual desire or sex acts:
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  1. Calling to mind sexual desire or sex acts:
  2. Tending to suggest something considered improper or indecent; risqué
  3. Conveying a hint or suggestion:
dire
Calling for quick action; urgent
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  1. Calling for quick action; urgent
  2. Warning of or having dreadful or terrible consequences; calamitous:
  3. Arousing terror or causing extreme distress; dreadful; terrible
direful
Foreshadowing evil or disaster; ominous.
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  1. Foreshadowing evil or disaster; ominous.
  2. Inspiring dread; terrible.
gloomy
Showing or filled with gloom:
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  1. Showing or filled with gloom:
  2. Partially or totally dark, especially dismal and dreary:
  3. Imperfectly illuminated; dismal through obscurity or darkness; dusky; dim; clouded.
haunting
Often recurring to the mind and typically evoking poignant feelings
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  1. Often recurring to the mind and typically evoking poignant feelings
perilous
Involving peril or risk; dangerous
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  1. Involving peril or risk; dangerous
  2. Full of or involving peril; dangerous or risky.
ill-starred
Ill-fated; unlucky.
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  1. Ill-fated; unlucky.
  2. Unlucky or doomed to disaster
  3. Doomed to a bad fate; hapless
ill-fated
Causing misfortune; unlucky
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  1. Causing misfortune; unlucky
  2. Having or certain to have an evil fate or unlucky end
  3. Unlucky; doomed.
fearful
Causing or capable of causing fear; frightening:
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  1. Causing or capable of causing fear; frightening:
  2. Extreme, as in degree or extent. Used especially of something negative:
  3. Showing or resulting from fear
clouded
Unknown, surrounded in mystery.
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  1. Unknown, surrounded in mystery.
  2. Filled with clouds.
inauspicious
Not favorable; not auspicious.
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  1. Not favorable; not auspicious.
  2. Not auspicious; unfavorable; unlucky; ill-omened
  3. Not auspicious; ill-omened; unfortunate; unlucky; unfavorable.
unlucky
Subjected to or marked by misfortune:
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  1. Subjected to or marked by misfortune:
  2. Unfortunate, marked by misfortune
  3. Resulting or likely to result in misfortune; inauspicious:
prophetic
Of, belonging to, or characteristic of a prophet or prophecy:
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  1. Of, belonging to, or characteristic of a prophet or prophecy:
  2. Of, having the nature of, or containing a prophecy
  3. Foretelling events as if by divine inspiration:
apocalyptic
Characterized by predictions of or allusions to a disastrous outcome:
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  1. Characterized by predictions of or allusions to a disastrous outcome:
  2. Of or constituting a culminating or decisive event, turning point, etc., esp. one that is unsettling or threatening
  3. Relating to or predicting the end of the world, especially as described in the Bible or another religious text.
foreboding
Characterized by foreboding
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  1. Characterized by foreboding
  2. Ominous.
threatening
Presenting a threat; menacing; frightening.
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  1. Presenting a threat; menacing; frightening.
  2. Gving warning signs of bad weather:
  3. Causing the feeling that one's power, social standing, or self-esteem is in danger of being diminished:
forbidding
Unpleasant; disagreeable:
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  1. Unpleasant; disagreeable:
  2. Highly unpleasant or disagreeable
  3. Having a menacing aspect:
fateful
(Archaic) Revealing what is to come; prophetic
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  1. (Archaic) Revealing what is to come; prophetic
  2. Momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate.
  3. Having important consequences; often, specif., bringing death or destruction
baleful
Harmful or threatening harm or evil; ominous; deadly
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  1. Harmful or threatening harm or evil; ominous; deadly
  2. Portending evil; ominous:
  3. Miserable, wretched, distressed, suffering.
apocalyptic
Of or constituting a culminating or decisive event, turning point, etc., esp. one that is unsettling or threatening
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  1. Of or constituting a culminating or decisive event, turning point, etc., esp. one that is unsettling or threatening
  2. Characterized by predictions of or allusions to a disastrous outcome:
  3. Relating to or predicting the end of the world, especially as described in the Bible or another religious text.
baneful
Portending harm; ominous.
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  1. Portending harm; ominous.
  2. Causing harm, ruin, or death; harmful.
dire
Calling for quick action; urgent
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  1. Calling for quick action; urgent
  2. Arousing terror or causing extreme distress; dreadful; terrible
  3. Warning of or having dreadful or terrible consequences; calamitous:
direful
Foreshadowing evil or disaster; ominous.
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  1. Foreshadowing evil or disaster; ominous.
  2. Inspiring dread; terrible.
fateful
Determined in advance by fate, fated.
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  1. Determined in advance by fate, fated.
  2. Having important consequences; often, specif., bringing death or destruction
  3. Momentous, significant, setting or sealing ones fate.
fire-and-brimstone
Characterized by an impassioned emphasis on damnation and eternal punishment
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  1. Characterized by an impassioned emphasis on damnation and eternal punishment
grave
(--- Theol.) So evil as to cause spiritual death; mortal
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  1. (--- Theol.) So evil as to cause spiritual death; mortal
  2. Dignified and somber in conduct or character:
  3. Fraught with danger or harm:
portentous
Of momentous or ominous significance.
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  1. Of momentous or ominous significance.
  2. Marked by pompousness; pretentiously weighty.
  3. Full of unspecifiable significance; exciting wonder and awe:
unlucky
Subjected to or marked by misfortune:
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  1. Subjected to or marked by misfortune:
  2. Unfortunate, marked by misfortune
  3. Resulting or likely to result in misfortune; inauspicious:

Synonym Study

  • Foreboding implies a portent or presentiment of something evil or harmful a foreboding anxiety
  • Fateful may imply a fatal character or control by fate, but is now usually applied to that which is of momentous or decisive significance a fateful decision
  • Portentous may imply a foreshadowing, esp. of evil, but is now more often used of that which arouses awe or amazement because of its prodigious or marvelous character a portentous event
  • Ominous implies a threatening character but does not necessarily connote a disastrous outcome the request was met by an ominous silence
Find another word for ominous. In this page you can discover 58 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for ominous, like: portentous, ill-omened, grim, sinister, dark, black, lowering, suggestive, ever-threatening, premonitory and dire.

Sentence Examples

  • Ominous black clouds belched flames and roared.

  • Her ominous tone did not register with him.

  • His ominous farewell silenced her.

  • There was an ominous silence.

  • The door closed with an ominous boom that echoed throughout what sounded like a massive but empty chamber.

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Words near ominous in the Thesaurus