1
Warning sign
A development that indicates a harmful event or failure may soon occur.
Example
A sudden drop in water pressure was an ominous sign that the system might fail.
ominous
/ˈɒmɪnəs/ · OM-ih-nuhsadjective
Threatening or suggesting that something bad is likely to happen.
Use ominous when a sign, sound, atmosphere, or development creates a justified sense of approaching danger or misfortune.
What ominous Really Means
The word becomes easier to use when its closely related senses are separated and compared.
2
Threatening atmosphere
A mood, appearance, or sound that creates apprehension about what will happen next.
Example
Dark smoke on the horizon gave the scene an ominous quality.
3
Troubling implication
Evidence or a trend whose likely future consequences appear unfavourable.
Example
The repeated loss of breeding habitat is an ominous development for the species.
Use ominous Naturally
Notice how the surrounding noun or clause reveals the exact shade of meaning.
Dark smoke on the horizon gave the scene an ominous quality.
The unexplained pressure drop was an ominous warning of mechanical failure.
For researchers monitoring the glacier, the widening fracture looked increasingly ominous.
Precision Matters
Ominous overlaps with several common words, but each carries a different emphasis.
ominous
vs.Suggests future danger, sometimes indirectly through atmosphere or implication.
threatening
More directly communicates an intention or possibility of harm.
ominous
vs.Describes the sign or atmosphere suggesting trouble.
foreboding
Usually names or describes the fearful feeling that trouble is approaching.
ominous
vs.May describe an impersonal warning or natural development.
sinister
Often suggests deliberate evil, menace, or harmful intent.
ominous
vs.Predicts or hints at a bad outcome.
catastrophic
Describes the disastrous outcome itself.
Test ominous in Context
The signals suggest that a dangerous failure may be approaching.
1
Engineers regarded the sustained pressure drop and repeated alarm signals as ___ indications that the cooling system might soon fail.