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Portentous   /pɔrtˈɛntəs/   Listen
adjective
Portentous  adj.  
1.
Of the nature of a portent; containing portents; foreshadowing, esp. foreshadowing ill; ominous. "For, I believe, they are portentous things." "Victories of strange and almost portentous splendor."
2.
Hence: Monstrous; prodigious; wonderful; dreadful; as, a beast of portentous size.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Portentous" Quotes from Famous Books



... business matters." Hildegarde wondered what was coming; her mother looked very grave; she held in her hand a square grey envelope. "I shall be greatly obliged, therefore, my dear," her mother continued, with the same portentous gravity, "if—you would—read that"; and she gave the ...
— Hildegarde's Neighbors • Laura E. Richards
... almost home. Before them lay the frozen waterway. Beyond that, and above, rose the hill, on the face of which stood their shack; and about them was the brooding silence, still and portentous, but familiar. ...
— In the Brooding Wild • Ridgwell Cullum
... and Badenoch were the first that obeyed the call. They started at sight of Helen, but Wallace in a few words related the cause of her appearance, and the portentous letter was laid before them. All were acquainted with the handwriting of Lord March, and all agreed in attributing to its real motive his late solicitude to obtain the command of the Lothians. "What!" cried Bothwell, "but to open his castle gates ...
— The Scottish Chiefs • Miss Jane Porter
... novel, which is curious enough, coming at a time when he was doing some of his best work. He wrote this while his mind was busy with a great masterpiece, "The Karamazov Brothers," and in this book we get nothing but the lees. It is a novel of portentous length and utter vacuity. I have read many dull books, but it is hard to recall a novel where the steady, monotonous dulness of page after page is quite so oppressive. For it is not only dull; it ...
— Essays on Russian Novelists • William Lyon Phelps
... explains his purpose, and sends the seven sages to make the formal request for Parvati's hand. The seven sages fly to the brilliant city of Himalaya, where they are received by the mountain god. After a rather portentous interchange of compliments, the seven sages announce their errand, requesting Parvati's hand in behalf of Shiva. The father joyfully assents, and it is agreed that the marriage shall be celebrated after three days. These three days are spent by ...
— Translations of Shakuntala and Other Works • Kaalidaasa


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