portentous

7 synonyms and 5 antonyms for portentous, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Adj — Carrying great or worrying importance.

Synonyms

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

pompous prodigious overblown fateful pontifical grandiloquent foreboding

Synonyms by Meaning

1. adj

Carrying great or worrying importance.

“The chaplain's first mention of the name Yossarian! had tolled deep in his memory like a portentous gong.”

pompous prodigious overblown fateful pontifical grandiloquent foreboding

Opposites

insignificant unremarkable trivial

2. adj

Seeming to warn of something bad to come.

Opposites

auspicious

3. adj

Full of pride and self-importance.

Opposites

humble

Etymology

Has more than one source. One is a borrowing from Latin portentōsus, from portentus (“predicted”) plus -ōsus, compare the earlier form portentuous (which came via Middle English from Latin portentuōsus); read at face value it is portent plus -ous. The other is a borrowing from French portentueux.

Full origin of portentous →

People also searched

humble trivial insignificant pontifical auspicious prodigious foreboding pompous overblown fateful unremarkable

Nearby words

← Back to the full definition of portentous