portentuous

comparative more portentuous · superlative most portentuous

1. obsoleteObsolete form of portentous.First known use 15th–19th c.

   Clouds pall the light of the Sun. And within the soul there are clouds often blacker than night and more portentuous than the black cloud of Elijah's prayer.

   1911, Walter Winston Kenilworth, “Night and Resurrection”, in Thoughts on Things Psychic, New York, N.Y.: R[obert] F[rancis] Fenno & Company, →OCLC, page 184

   4 more examples

   Suche pꝛodigious ſightes were ſéene, ſuch vnnaturall woꝛking of the heauens, ſuch terrible ſightes on the earth, ſuch poꝛtentuous miracles then ſéene in Rome, that the Senatours came vnto Sibilla to knowe the effectes and endes of theſe monſtrous ſhowes, and to be inſtructed of the ſtate of the Citie, vnto whome ſhe gaue ſixe letters in wꝛitinges, thꝛée R. and thꝛée F. to be expounded of their wiſemen, which when the meaning was founde, that thꝛée R. was this, Regnum Romæ Ruet: and thꝛée F. was Flamma, Ferro, & Fame, that is as much to ſay, that the monarch of Rome ſhoulde periſh with fire, ſwoꝛde, and hunger.

   [1573?], Lodowicke Lloid [i.e., Ludovic Lloyd], The Pilgrimage of Princes, […], London: […] [John Charlewood and John Kingston? for] William Iones, […], →OCLC, folio 86, verso

   I had almoſt askt-⁠-⁠-qui gurges, aut quis tartarus hoc ſcelus-⁠-eſt auſus attrectare [what whirlpool, or what Tartarus, dared to touch this crime]? ſith in ſo many thouſãds [thousands] of years from the fal of the reprobate and faithleſſe angels it neuer came into the head of anie deuil to ſuggeſt to the hart of any mã [man] before this time ſo nefarious, flagitius, portentuous a vvickedneſſe, as this vvas?

   1607 November 15 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar), John Kinge [i.e., John King], A Sermon Preached in Oxford: The 5. of November. 1607, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Ioseph Barnes, published 1607, →OCLC, page 23

   The Ancients alſo vvere of Opinion, that Dreaming of Blood prognoſticated Suffocation; if ſo, actual Bleeding muſt needs be more Portentuous than a meer Dream.

   1708 March 26–31, The British Apollo, or, Curious Amusements for the Ingenious. […], volume I, number 14, London: […] [F]or the Authors, by J[ohn] Mayo, […], →OCLC, signature O, verso, column 1

   In this state was Britain thirty years ago.— […] our commerce became so improved, by the assistance of our advancement in the fine arts, […] Since that portentuous period, the wealth of our happy country has greatly increased, and peace with victory have, at length, intertwined their verdant wreaths around the dignified forehead of distinguished Britain.

   1821, W[illiam] M[arshall] Craig, “Lecture I”, in A Course of Lectures on Drawing, Painting, and Engraving, Considered as Branches of Elegant Education. […], London: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […], →OCLC, page 4