as in portent
something believed to be a sign or warning of a future event
some people still believe that a black cat crossing your path is a bad omen
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Recent Examples of omen
The bad omens came early at this year’s Burning Man — the infamously wild, weeklong celebration of art, music, and unrestrained self-expression held at the end of every summer in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert — portending a particularly extra-ordinary burn.
—
Denver Nicks, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2025
Investors now worry that Milei’s defeat is a bad omen for the crucial legislative elections in October, a contest that could potentially derail his free-market economic reforms.
—Miami Herald, 10 Sep. 2025
In the final novel of the series, The Last Battle, the destruction of trees and dryads in Lantern Waste, a place tied to the creation of Narnia itself, is one of many portentous omens signalling the end of the world.
—Ellen Walker, JSTOR Daily, 3 Sep. 2025
The village has since fallen on hard times, and its resident see the boat’s return as an omen that their fortunes could be about to turn.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 29 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for omen
Denver Nicks, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2025
Investors now worry that Milei’s defeat is a bad omen for the crucial legislative elections in October, a contest that could potentially derail his free-market economic reforms.
—Miami Herald, 10 Sep. 2025
In the final novel of the series, The Last Battle, the destruction of trees and dryads in Lantern Waste, a place tied to the creation of Narnia itself, is one of many portentous omens signalling the end of the world.
—Ellen Walker, JSTOR Daily, 3 Sep. 2025
The village has since fallen on hard times, and its resident see the boat’s return as an omen that their fortunes could be about to turn.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 29 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for omen
Recent Examples of Synonyms for omen
Noun
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Keane, though, sees nothing but disaster ahead, a portent presaged by some of the film’s most enduring images, like a stretch limo with a flat tire and a steam room littered with empty champagne bottles.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
5 Sep. 2025
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As portents go, after a testing summer for Newcastle, this did not look altogether positive.—
The Athletic UK Staff,
New York Times,
20 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Compared to their forerunners in the tsarist era, with their party congresses held abroad, their executive committees, and their active recruitment in imperial Russia’s universities, Soviet dissidents remained a comparatively small and informal conglomeration of activists.—
Benjamin Nathans
September 24,
Literary Hub,
24 Sep. 2025
-
The event turned out to be a forerunner to the UN Earth Summit.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Was her prediction a bit of bluster?—
Tatiana Siegel,
Variety,
30 Sep. 2025
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The brokerage provides the ability to trade prediction-market contracts in the US through partnerships with Kalshi and ForecastEx, which are regulated by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Dream books offered augury, poetry, and purpose—a kind of secular scripture for the numbers game.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
4 Aug. 2025
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Despite these auguries of Sylvester’s moral and psychological well-being, the fact remains he is broke.—
Timothy Crouse,
Rolling Stone,
9 June 2025
Noun
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An Easter egg to me is more of a wink to the fans or narrative foreshadowing in some kind of way.—
Emily Longeretta,
Variety,
18 Sep. 2025
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By an almost impossible conceptual leap, the distant myth of the poem becomes a foreshadowing and a prophecy of events that were, from Virgil’s own historical vantage point, already in the past.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Once most of the ticker tape had been cleared from the pitch, and the game finally started, all this seemed to have rattled the Netherlands, who played an unusually physical brand of football, perhaps a precursor to their infamous 2010 final display against Spain.—
Michael Cox,
New York Times,
5 Oct. 2025
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With Tagovailoa, however, that off-the-field chemistry has always been a precursor to what happens in between the lines.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
4 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The key question investors and the Fed are trying to answer is whether this slight slackening presages a far worse outlook, even a recession, or whether reports of rising uncertainty merely reflect people’s feelings, not economic reality.—
Sasha Rogelberg,
Fortune,
18 June 2025
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The result is chaos, bewilderment and delay that presages rising consumer prices.—
Peter S. Goodman,
New York Times,
14 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Honey ginger chicken with brown rice is easy to make and your home will be filled with aromas that hint of warmth and coziness.—
Susan Selasky,
Freep.com,
4 Oct. 2025
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As with other gray-empowerment films like Thelma, there’s a touch of corniness in María Ángeles’ determination and resilience, which extends to a hint of blackmail to stop the real estate agent from blabbing to Clara.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Omen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/omen. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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