Merriam - Webster Word of the day *portentous*

portentous

adjective

por·​ten·​tous pȯr-ˈten-təs 


Synonyms of portentous


1

: of, relating to, or constituting a portent
suspense, portentous foreshadowing, hints of sinister and violent mysteries—


Francine Prose



2

: eliciting amazement or wonder : prodigious

3
a
: being a grave or serious matter
portentous decisions


b
: self-consciously solemn or important : pompous
portentous declamation unsalted by the least trace of humor—


W. H. Pritchard


c
: ponderously excessive
that discipline's overwrought, portentous phrases—


R. M. Coles



portentously adverb
portentousness noun

Did you know?

“If it wasn’t for bad luck / You know I wouldn’t have no luck at all.” So sang Albert King on the 1967 song “Born Under a Bad Sign,” written by Booker T. Jones (of Booker T. and the MG’s) and soul singer William Bell. He may have been singing about the ominous portent of being born during an unfavorable astrological alignment, but the classic tune became a standard of the blues. Portents are also at the heart of the adjective portentous, which describes things forewarning future events—usually events of the bad luck variety. Both portent and portentous come from the Latin noun portentum, meaning “omen or sign.” Since entering English in the 15th century, portentous has picked up additional senses, including “grave, solemn, significant” (as in “burdened with making portentous decisions”), which was added to our dictionary in 1934. It’s more recently moved into less estimable semantic territory, describing both the pompous and the excessive.

Synonyms

• baleful
  
• dire
  
• direful
  
• doomy
  
• foreboding
  
• ill
  
• ill-boding
  
• inauspicious
  
• menacing
  
• minatory
  
• ominous
  
• sinister
  
• threatening
  

Choose the Right Synonym for portentous

ominous, portentous, fateful mean having a menacing or threatening aspect.
ominous implies having a menacing, alarming character foreshadowing evil or disaster.

ominous rumblings from the volcano
portentous suggests being frighteningly big or impressive but now seldom definitely connotes forewarning of calamity.

an eerie and portentous stillness
fateful suggests being of momentous or decisive importance.

the fateful conference that led to war

Examples of portentous in a Sentence

an eerie and portentous stillness hung over the camp the night before the battle in 1969 people regarded the first landing on the moon as a truly portentous event

Recent Examples on the Web The portentous rite unfolded in front of the Lakhta Center tower, the country’s tallest building, as well as the $1.7 billion headquarters of Gazprom, the state-run gas company that has become another crucial symbol of Putin’s Russia. —
Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 22 Aug. 2023 Flashy graphics and portentous music splashed across television screens. — Rory Smith, New York Times, 14 July 2023 Three books chart significant portentous demographic trends underway in the United States. —
Kevin Munger, Foreign Affairs, 28 Feb. 2023 See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'portentous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of portentous was in the 15th century