Words / P / General

portentous

adjective/pɔːˈtentəs/

C2CEFR level
70/100Rarity: rare
LiteraryRegister

Ominously foreshadowing something momentous, often calamitous.

A portentous stillness settled over the harbour just before the gale arrived.

Similar: ominous, foreboding

Origin: From Latin portentum 'omen', from portendere 'to foretell'.

Topic: fate in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: fate