ominous
/ˈɑmɪnəs/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.40 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of or pertaining to an omen or to omens; being or exhibiting an omen; significant.
adj
Specifically, giving indication of a coming ill; being an evil omen
Example Sentences
- "In Cornouaille, Brittany, it is popularly believed that the weather of the last six days of December and the first six of January prognosticates the weather of the twelve months; but in other parts of Brittany it is the first twelve days of January that are supposed to be ominous of the weather for the year."
- "California poll support for Jerry Brown's tax increases has ominous implications for U.S. taxpayers too Los Angeles Times Headline April 25, 2011"
- "The idea of a merchant selling both totems of pure evil and frozen yogurt (he calls it frogurt!) is amusing in itself, as is the idea that frogurt could be cursed, but it’s really the Shopkeeper’s quicksilver shift from ominous doomsaying to chipper salesmanship that sells the sequence."
- "After growing substantially in the 1990s and modestly in the 2000s, the total number of American kids fell from 2010 through 2019, an ominous milestone."
Etymology
From Latin ōminōsus (“full of foreboding”), from ōmen (“forbidden fruit, omen”), from Old Latin osmen, of uncertain origin, with many origins proposed (see ōmen).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: ōminōsus, osmen
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɑmɪnəs/
- British English: /ˈɒmɪnəs/
Inflected Forms
more ominous (comparative)
most ominous (superlative)