por·ten·tous (pôr-t n t s, p r-)adj. 1. Of the nature of or constituting a portent; foreboding: "The present aspect of society is portentous of great change" (Edward Bellamy). 2. Full of unspecifiable significance; exciting wonder and awe: "Such a portentous and mysterious monster roused all my curiosity" (Herman Melville). 3. Marked by pompousness; pretentiously weighty. por·ten tous·ly adv.por·ten tous·ness n. |
portentous
Adjective
1. of great or ominous significance
2. self-important or pompous: there was nothing portentous or solemn about him
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Adj. | 1. | portentous - of momentous or ominous significance; "such a portentous...monster raised all my curiosity"- Herman Melville; "a prodigious vision" significant, important - important in effect or meaning; "a significant change in tax laws"; "a significant change in the Constitution"; "a significant contribution"; "significant details"; "statistically significant" |
| 2. | portentous - ominously prophetic prophetic, prophetical - foretelling events as if by supernatural intervention; "prophetic writings"; "prophetic powers"; "words that proved prophetic" | |
| 3. | portentous - puffed up with vanity; "a grandiloquent and boastful manner"; "overblown oratory"; "a pompous speech"; "pseudo-scientific gobbledygook and pontifical hooey"- Newsweek pretentious - making claim to or creating an appearance of (often undeserved) importance or distinction; "a pretentious country house"; "a pretentious fraud"; "a pretentious scholarly edition" |
portentous
adjective 2. significant, alarming, sinister, ominous, important, threatening, crucial, forbidding, menacing, momentous, fateful, minatory, bodeful
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