different between ominous vs direful
ominous
English
Etymology
From Latin ominosus (“full of foreboding”), from omen (“forbidden fruit, omen”), from os (“the mouth”) + -men.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /??m?n?s/
- (General American) IPA(key): /??m?n?s/
- Hyphenation: o?mi?nous
Adjective
ominous (comparative more ominous, superlative most ominous)
- Of or pertaining to an omen or to omens; being or exhibiting an omen; significant.
- Specifically, giving indication of a coming ill; being an evil omen
- Synonyms: threatening, portentous, inauspicious
- California poll support for Jerry Brown's tax increases has ominous implications for U.S. taxpayers too Los Angeles Times Headline April 25, 2011
Usage notes
- Formerly used both in a favorable and unfavorable sense; now chiefly in the latter; foreboding or foreshadowing evil; inauspicious; as, an ominous dread.
- Nouns to which "ominous" is often applied: sign, silence, warning, cloud, note, sound, shadow, threat, music, tone, implication, message, presence, development, voice, portent, turn, sky, figure, dream, event, trend, change, day, beginning, growl, cry, signal, pattern.
Synonyms
- portentous
- sinister
- threatening
Derived terms
- ominously
- ominousness
Related terms
- omen
- abomination
Translations
Further reading
- ominous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- ominous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Anagrams
- suimono
ominous From the web:
- what ominous means
- what ominous warnings are implied in this pledge
- what does an ominous mean
- what do ominous mean
- definition for ominous
direful
English
Etymology
From dire +? -ful.
Adjective
direful (comparative more direful, superlative most direful)
- Fearful, terrible.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.11:
- read what destiny / Or other dyrefull hap from heaven or hell / Hath wrought this wicked deed […].
- 1603-06, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, I.2:
- "As whence the sun gins his reflection, shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break."
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.11:
Synonyms
- dire
Derived terms
- direfully
- direfulness
direful From the web:
- direful meaning
- what does direful
- what do direful mean
- what does direful synonym
- what does direful mean in english
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