Origin: Latin suffix -ous
Ominous has 3 different meanings across 1 category:
threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
"a baleful look"
"forbidding thunderclouds"
"his tone became menacing"
"ominous rumblings of discontent"
"sinister storm clouds"
"a sinister smile"
"his threatening behavior"
"ugly black clouds"
"the situation became ugly"
presaging ill fortune
"ill omens"
"ill predictions"
"my words with inauspicious thunderings shook heaven"
"a dead and ominous silence prevailed"
"a by-election at a time highly unpropitious for the Government"
Of or pertaining to an omen or to omens; being or exhibiting an omen; significant.
The word "ominous" comes from the Latin ōminōsus, meaning "full of foreboding." It is derived from ōmen, which originally referred to a forbidden fruit or an omen.