portentous

adj
/pɔː(ɹ)ˈtɛntəs//pɔrˈtɛn(t)əs/US

Etymology

Of multiple origins: * Borrowed from Latin portentōsus, from portentus (“predicted”) + -ōsus. Compare earlier portentuous (via Middle English from Latin portentuōsus). By surface analysis, portent + -ous. * Borrowed from French portentueux

  1. borrowed from portentueux
  2. borrowed from portentōsus

Definitions

  1. Of momentous or ominous significance.

    • Well may it sort [be fitting] that this portentous figure comes armed through our watch, so like the King that was and is the question of these wars.
    • It is no longer in my possession, but my memory holds almost every word of its portentous message; and again I affirm my confidence in the sanity of the man who wrote it.
    • The chaplain's first mention of the name Yossarian! had tolled deep in his memory like a portentous gong.
  2. Ominously prophetic.

  3. Puffed up with vanity.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at portentous. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01portentous02prophetic03predicted04predict05forecast06foreshadow07portent

A definitional loop anchored at portentous. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at portentous

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA