Synonyms for portentous
- adjective
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Ominous — ominously prophetic
ominous, foreboding, sinister, prophetic, baleful, monstrous, alarming, dire, threatening, fatal, star-crossed, ill-fated, predictive, ill-starred, boding, ill-boding, premonitory, ill-omened, bodeful, augurous, presageful, presagious
2. Marvelous — of momentous or ominous significance
marvelous US, marvellous UK, momentous, fateful, weighty, remarkable, extraordinary, heavy, significant, important, wonderful, amazing, stupendous, wondrous, astounding, miraculous
3. Pompous
Definitions
- adj. 1
Of momentous or ominous significance.
- adj. 2
Ominously prophetic.
- adj. 3
Puffed up with vanity.
Related words
- Word family
- portentously portentousness portent
- Other spellings
- portentious
Example sentences
- sinister Gustavo's tone and mannerisms were really sinister.
- ominous The sky looks ominous. I wonder if it will rain.
- prophetic Tom has a prophetic level of paranoid intuition.
- foreboding Despite her foreboding, Mary entered the cellar.
- momentous James tweeted that the signing was a momentous occasion.
- fateful I wish I had never taken that fateful boat ride.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| portentous | steady | |
| sinister | rising | |
| ominous | rising | |
| prophetic | rising | |
| foreboding | rising | |
| momentous | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- dire1, vain1
- 5 letters
- heavy2, awful2, fatal2
- 6 letters
- boding
- 7 letters
- amazing3, ominous3, fateful2, pompous2, weighty2, baleful2, bodeful
- 8 letters
- sinister3, alarming3, wondrous2, augurous
- 9 letters
- important3, wonderful3, marvelous3, monstrous2, prophetic3, momentous3, overblown3
- 10 letters
- remarkable4, astounding3, predictive3, marvellous3, miraculous4, foreboding3, stupendous3, pontifical4, presageful, presagious
- 11 letters
- significant4, threatening3, premonitory5
- 13 letters
- extraordinary6, grandiloquent4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (heavy2 = 2 syllables).