Thesaurus results for PORTENTS

portents

noun

plural of portent

as in omens

something believed to be a sign or warning of a future event a red sky in the morning can be a portent of a coming storm

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as in miracles

something extraordinary or surprising a scout was sent to have a look at this teenage pitcher who was supposed to be the latest portent of the baseball world

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of portents By the end of 1857, no one knew the crack-up of the Union was coming in three years, or that the nation would be in a civil war in four, but the portents were bleak. —

Jake Lundberg, The Atlantic, 12 Feb. 2026 Carol’s favorite, Bella Donna, does not carry the same dark portents. —

Scott Tobias, Vulture, 12 Dec. 2025 Black cats can be portents of bad luck. —

Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Nov. 2025 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 Other auspicious portents are appearing, Worden says, that signal initial Mars colonies could begin spreading out, beneath crystalline hemispheric domes, across the 2030s. —

Kevin Holden Platt, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2025 Advertisement Mamdani’s performance as mayor would be scrutinized for portents of the Democrats’ future. —

Mark Chiusano, Time, 14 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for portents

Noun

In the car, the omens appear to be aligning.

— Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 9 May 2026
On the other hand, all these omens popping up so early in the season is an indication there are further twists to come.

— Alison Herman, Variety, 26 Mar. 2026