portentous

adjective

por·​ten·​tous pȯr-ˈten-təs How to pronounce portentous (audio)
1
: of, relating to, or constituting a portent
suspense, portentous foreshadowing, hints of sinister and violent mysteriesFrancine 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 humorW. H. Pritchard
c
: ponderously excessive
that discipline's overwrought, portentous phrasesR. 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.

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 Given knowledge of the forecast, their eastward encroachment on this region seemed possibly portentous, as perhaps the forerunners of what was to come. Martin Weil, Washington Post, 17 Feb. 2024 Barrett in particular has been sensitive to criticisms that the Court decides too many portentous questions in summary fashion without full briefing and argument. The Editors, National Review, 25 Jan. 2024 The most portentous challenge to the current international order comes in Asia, with the rise of Chinese power. Fareed Zakaria, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2023 The catastrophe of 1944 was certainly not its only eruption to coincide with portentous world events. Jeffrey Collins, WSJ, 24 Nov. 2023 That job — conveying portentous urgency — would have to fall to the novel’s prose. Joan Frank, Washington Post, 12 July 2023 But worries about such portentous revisionism were routine in past systems, as during the Cold War, which, as our article explained, would have fundamentally changed the balance of power. Joshua Shifrinson, Foreign Affairs, 17 Oct. 2023 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

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

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Dictionary Entries Near portentous

Cite this Entry

“Portentous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/portentous. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

portentous

adjective
por·​ten·​tous pȯr-ˈtent-əs How to pronounce portentous (audio)
pōr-
1
: being a portent : threatening
2
: causing wonder
portentously adverb
portentousness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on portentous

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