portentous
adjective
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Definition of portentous
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Synonyms & Antonyms for portentous
Synonyms
baleful, dire, direful, doomy, foreboding, ill, ill-boding, inauspicious, menacing, minatory, ominous, sinister, threatening
Antonyms
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Examples of portentous in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Three brown-skinned figures peer over the barrier in the upper left corner, perhaps the only witnesses to this portentous standoff. — Sharon Mizota, Los Angeles Times, "Black man, white police and the sly tricks of the eye in Brandon Landers’ painting," 8 Aug. 2019 These days, a delay of minutes can feel eternal and portentous. — Emily Bobrow, WSJ, "‘Delayed Response’ Review: A Better Way to Wait," 4 Dec. 2018 The city-building overlooks the Hudson River, which today glimmers silver under a portentous sky. — Leslie Kendall Dye, Longreads, "City on a Hill," 23 June 2018 The portentous tone is exacerbated by Will Epstein’s soundscore: an assemblage of surf and ambient noise that could easily be sold as a sleep aid. — Brian Seibert, New York Times, "Review: At Met Breuer, Dancers Try to Be Like Life, Too," 21 May 2018 The trailer is peppered with a series of portentous images: A man burning a handful of papers. — Travis M. Andrews, chicagotribune.com, "'13 Reasons Why' Season 2 trailer drops: Here's what we know about where the series goes," 9 May 2018 Native peoples often appear as portentous figures, intended to signal to viewers that the (usually Western) protagonists have entered a realm where civilization cannot reach. — Asher Elbein, The Atlantic, "The Terror Is More Than a Chilling Monster Show," 1 May 2018 All of its portentous conversations between hosts and humans about android consciousness exist somewhere in the space between an a-ha moment and an eye roll—without fully committing to either. — Sonia Saraiya, HWD, "Westworld Season 2 Review: A Dramatic Improvement," 20 Apr. 2018 But there was still something portentous about a large whale stranding. — National Geographic, "This Man Has Helped Give 460 Dead Whales a Second Life—As Art," 9 Apr. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'portentous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for portentous
portentous
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of portentous
See the full definition for portentous in the English Language Learners Dictionary
portentous
adjective
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Kids Definition of portentous
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