portentously
/pɔː(ɹ)ˈtɛn.təs.li/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.40 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
4
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "The cold light of the moon touched every face with unnatural paleness; and the silence was unbroken and portentously profound."
- "At that moment a long, scraggy individual in a checked suit poked his head into the bar, looked around portentously, whistled mysteriously to my informant, and jerked his thumb and head in the direction of the door."
- "Shirky ends the story of the lost Sidekick by asking, portentously, “What happens next?”—no doubt imagining future waves of digital protesters."
Etymology
Etymology tree English portentous Middle English -ly English -ly English portentously From portentous + -ly.
Inflected Forms
more portentously (comparative)
most portentously (superlative)