Synonyms of ominous

ominous

adjective

ˈä-mə-nəs 

as in sinister

being or showing a sign of evil or calamity to come

that comment about downsizing from the company president sounded ominous

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sinister
• menacing
• bleak
• threatening
• somber
• darkening
• dark
• portentous
• foreboding
• murky
• dire
• direful
• lonely
• inauspicious
• unfortunate
• desolate
• minatory
• depressing
• baleful
• black
• depressive
• gray
• ill
• doomy
• ill-boding
• unfavorable
• morbid
• cold
• dim
• gloomy
• lugubrious
• dismal
• cheerless
• sullen
• lonesome
• elegiac
• morose
• saturnine
• dreary
• sepulchral
• discouraging
• troubled
• glum
• funereal
• forlorn
• unpropitious
• unpromising
• disconsolate
• cloudy
• drear
• chill
• comfortless
• hopeless
• miserable
• evil
• disheartening
• tenebrous
• malignant
• dreich
• godforsaken
• wretched
• unlucky
• plutonian
• Cimmerian
• malign
• tenebrific
• sunless
• ill-fated
• ill-starred
• star-crossed

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• favorable
• bright
• promising
• benign
• golden
• hopeful
• encouraging
• prosperous
• unthreatening
• auspicious
• propitious
• heartening

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective ominous differ from other similar words?

The words fateful and portentous are common synonyms of ominous. While all three words mean "having a menacing or threatening aspect," ominous implies having a menacing, alarming character foreshadowing evil or disaster.

ominous rumblings from the volcano

Where would fateful be a reasonable alternative to ominous?

The words fateful and ominous can be used in similar contexts, but fateful suggests being of momentous or decisive importance.

the fateful conference that led to war

When can portentous be used instead of ominous?

Although the words portentous and ominous have much in common, portentous suggests being frighteningly big or impressive but now seldom definitely connotes forewarning of calamity.

an eerie and portentous stillness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of ominous

This might be for the better; our introduction to Ethan and Ivy (Ranjith Sajeev and Aiswarya Raj) is brief but suitably ominous. — Damon Wise, Deadline, 12 Oct. 2026

The original pictures are low quality—at once smeary, ominous, and mundane. — Hilton Als, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026

The oceans’ vastness can feel ominous, and though scientists have studied what lurks beneath, so much remains unknown. — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 8 Oct. 2026

And Jeremy is the handsome cipher, the seemingly long-suffering dreamboat of a husband who may or may not be harboring more ominous intentions. — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026

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