ominous

comparative more ominous · superlative most ominous

1. Of or pertaining to an omen or to omens; being or exhibiting an omen; significant.

   1 more example

   In Cornouaille, Brittany, it is popularly believed that the weather of the last six days of December and the first six of January prognosticates the weather of the twelve months; but in other parts of Brittany it is the first twelve days of January that are supposed to be ominous of the weather for the year.

   1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 9, page 324

   Synonyms: momentous, omenic, portentous, big, central, consequential, critical, crucial

2. Specifically, giving indication of a coming ill; being an evil omen

   California poll support for Jerry Brown's tax increases has ominous implications for U.S. taxpayers too Los Angeles Times Headline April 25, 2011

   2 more examples

   The idea of a merchant selling both totems of pure evil and frozen yogurt (he calls it frogurt!) is amusing in itself, as is the idea that frogurt could be cursed, but it’s really the Shopkeeper’s quicksilver shift from ominous doomsaying to chipper salesmanship that sells the sequence.

   2012 April 29, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 15 Aug 2012

   After growing substantially in the 1990s and modestly in the 2000s, the total number of American kids fell from 2010 through 2019, an ominous milestone.

   2021 April 23, Ronald Brownstein, “The racist ‘replacement theory’ has it all backward”, in CNN

   Synonyms: threatening, portentous, inauspicious