Om″i‐nous (?), a. [L. ominosus, fr. omen. See Omen.] Of or pertaining to an omen or to omens; being or exhibiting an omen; significant; portentous; — formerly used both in a favorable and unfavorable sense; now chiefly in the latter; foreboding or foreshowing evil; inauspicious; as, an ominous dread.
He had a good ominous name to have made a peace. Bacon.
In the heathen worship of God, a sacrifice without a heart was accounted ominous. South.
— Om″i‐nous‐ly, adv. — Om″i‐nous‐ness, n.