What does ominous mean?
Word: Ominous
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Ominous means suggesting that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen.
Synonyms: threatening, menacing
Antonyms: promising
Word origin: From Latin ominosus, 'full of omens', from omen, 'a sign of what is to come'.
How do you spell ominous?
Syllables: om - i - nous
Tricky part: Although it comes from omen, the middle vowel changes to i, so students write omenous.
Watch out for: omenous, omanous
Memory tip: Take omen and swap its e for an i: o-m-i-n, then the -ous ending.
Ominous in a sentence
Example 1: An ominous silence fell over the classroom when the teacher picked up the test papers.
Example 2: The car engine made an ominous clicking sound on the way to Lonavala.
Example 3: The ominous creak of the old wooden stairs made Ravi tiptoe.
Fun Fact
Roman officials called augurs studied the flight of birds for omens before important events, and the word inaugurate comes from their title.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Probe
Find the misspelt word in the sentence and choose its meaning:
Rohan heard an ominus crunch as he sat on his school bag, and then remembered the box of crayons inside it.
a) a container of cloth or leather for carrying things
b) suggesting that something bad is going to happen
c) a noise made by something hard being crushed
d) a stick of coloured wax used for drawing
Show answer
b) suggesting that something bad is going to happen. The slip is in the ending, which is -ous, and the word describes a sound that warns of trouble.
Jumble Tumble
Choose the correct sequence of the jumbled letters to form a meaningful word:
nusoimo 1234567
a) 4651723
b) 4561723
c) 6451723
d) 4651732
Show answer
a) 4651723. o (4), m (6), i (5), n (1), o (7), u (2) and s (3) rebuild ominous.
Back to the Roots
Choose the correct option:
This comes from Latin and describes something that suggests a bad or unpleasant thing is about to happen.
a) frugal
b) ominous
c) lucid
d) placid
Show answer
b) ominous. Lucid means clear, placid means calm and frugal means careful with money.
Spellacadabra
Choose the misspelt word:
a) nominee
b) omminous
c) dominant
d) feminine
Show answer
b) omminous. Ominous takes a single m, the same as dominant, feminine and nominee.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these sounds most ominous?
a) a bird singing at dawn
b) a kettle whistling in the kitchen
c) a loud crack from an old tree branch
d) children laughing in a park
Show answer
c) a loud crack from an old tree branch
2. If a weather report sounds ominous, you should probably ___.
a) carry an umbrella and stay alert
b) leave every window wide open
c) plan a picnic in the open
d) ignore the forecast completely
Show answer
a) carry an umbrella and stay alert
