Portentous

//pɔː(ɹ)ˈtɛntəs// adj

adj ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of momentous or ominous significance.

    "Well may it sort [be fitting] that this portentous figure comes armed through our watch, so like the King that was and is the question of these wars."

  2. 2
    Ominously prophetic.
  3. 3
    Puffed up with vanity.
Adjective
  1. 1
    puffed up with vanity wordnet
  2. 2
    ominously prophetic wordnet
  3. 3
    of momentous or ominous significance wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
fatefulominoussignificantalarmingamazingapocalyptic

Example

More examples

"Of late, this portentous mansion has begun to give signs of dilapidation and decay."

Etymology

Of multiple origins: * Borrowed from Latin portentōsus, from portentus (“predicted”) + -ōsus. Compare earlier portentuous (via Middle English from Latin portentuōsus). By surface analysis, portent + -ous. * Borrowed from French portentueux

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.