Meaning & use
portentous
Seeming to warn of a significant, often ominous, event about to happen.
See it in a sentence
A portentous silence fell over the crowd just before the storm broke.
Critics found the film's dialogue overly portentous, as if every line predicted disaster.
A note on using this word
Can also describe writing or speech that is self-importantly serious, a slightly critical secondary use.
Words with a similar meaning
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