portentous
adjective
Francine ProseW. H. PritchardR. M. Coles
Did you know?
“If it wasn’t for bad luck / You know I wouldn’t have no luck at all.” So sang Albert King on the 1967 song “Born Under a Bad Sign,” written by Booker T. Jones (of Booker T. and the MG’s) and soul singer William Bell. He may have been singing about the ominous portent of being born during an unfavorable astrological alignment, but the classic tune became a standard of the blues. Portents are also at the heart of the adjective portentous, which describes things forewarning future events—usually events of the bad luck variety. Both portent and portentous come from the Latin noun portentum, meaning “omen or sign.” Since entering English in the 15th century, portentous has picked up additional senses, including “grave, solemn, significant” (as in “burdened with making portentous decisions”), which was added to our dictionary in 1934. It’s more recently moved into less estimable semantic territory, describing both the pompous and the excessive.
Synonyms
Examples of portentous in a Sentence
Will Leitch, Vulture, 5 Aug. 2024
The big and portentous orchestrations of John Williams play right through both exposition and action scenes like oppressive Musak.
—John H. Dorr, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 July 2024
After reams of the post-liberals’ portentous obscurities, Lefebvre’s cutting clarity comes as a relief.
—Becca Rothfeld, Washington Post, 3 July 2024
The first is to speak in the hushed, portentous tones that have signified Serious Blockbusters for decades.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 1 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for portentous 
Dictionary Entries Near portentous
Cite this Entry
“Portentous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/portentous. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
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portentous
adjective
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