OMINOUS

ill, inauspicious, ominous

(adjective) presaging ill fortune; “ill omens”; “ill predictions”; “my words with inauspicious thunderings shook heaven”- P.B.Shelley; “a dead and ominous silence prevailed”; “a by-election at a time highly unpropitious for the Government”

baleful, forbidding, menacing, minacious, minatory, ominous, sinister, threatening

(adjective) threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments; “a baleful look”; “forbidding thunderclouds”; “his tone became menacing”; “ominous rumblings of discontent”; “sinister storm clouds”; “a sinister smile”; “his threatening behavior”; “ugly black clouds”; “the situation became ugly”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

ominous (comparative more ominous, superlative most ominous)

Of or pertaining to an omen or to omens; being or exhibiting an omen; significant.

Specifically, giving indication of a coming ill; being an evil omen

Synonyms: threatening, portentous, inauspicious

• California poll support for Jerry Brown's tax increases has ominous implications for U.S. taxpayers too Los Angeles Times Headline April 25, 2011

Usage notes

• Formerly used both in a favorable and unfavorable sense; now chiefly in the latter; foreboding or foreshadowing evil; inauspicious; as, an ominous dread.

• Nouns to which "ominous" is often applied: sign, silence, warning, cloud, note, sound, shadow, threat, music, tone, implication, message, presence, development, voice, portent, turn, sky, figure, dream, event, trend, change, day, beginning, growl, cry, signal, pattern.

Synonyms

• portentous

• sinister

• threatening

Anagrams

• suimono

Source: Wiktionary

Om"i*nous, a. Etym: [L. ominosus, fr. omen. See Omen.]

Definition: Of or pertaining to an omen or to omens; being or exhibiting an omen; significant; portentous; -- formerly used both in a favorable and unfavorable sense; now chiefly in the latter; foreboding or foreshowing evil; inauspicious; as, an ominous dread. He had a good ominous name to have made a peace. Bacon. In the heathen worship of God, a sacrifice without a heart was accounted ominous. South.

– Om"i*nous*ly, adv.

– Om"i*nous*ness, n.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition