Definition of portentous in English:

portentous

adjective pɔːˈtɛntəspɔrˈtɛn(t)əs

1Of or like a portent; of momentous significance.
this portentous year in Canadian history
Example sentencesExamples
- Ugly as they are, I'm finding lots of useful material - old commercials, sound effects, peculiar remarks, portentous musical cues.
- The portentous original plan was to make three trilogies and so far we've been subjected to all three of the middle trilogy and, more recently, two of the first.
- Right from the portentous and pretentious but utterly muddled opening voice-over that quite inadequately sets the stage, this movie is an embarrassment of unintentional laughs.
- The scene is grim and portentous, and a sense of foreboding looms.
- It starts out OK, with a portentous and intriguing set up, but gets steadily cheesier and more melodramatic, until the author pulls out a genuine deus ex machina for the ending.
- If the United Workers Party brass read the portentous signs, none was man enough to call their leader away from his Independence Day preparations and warn him of the gathering storm clouds.
- His recent momentous, and portentous, decision to say that he doesn't need any more of our money, and that he'll be giving his future material away, will have repercussions for countless artists in later years.
- The idiocy, and it is perennial, is to look at polls three or six or nine months out and make these pretentious and portentous conclusions before any human being has voted.
- He delights in tracing similarities of metaphor, suggestive accidents of fate, portentous parallels, uncanny coincidences, and unexpected connections.
- Friedman, an unalloyed idealist when it comes to capitalism, and concomitantly (he supposes) a rampant technophile, is suddenly sober and portentous when it comes to Iraq.
- Miller had the advantage of having seen the play in the early 90s, when it was momentous and portentous.
- The film blends documentary and fiction, but the attempts at actual documentary, via old photos and a portentous narration, aren't worth the trouble.
- As the portentous millennium approached, evangelical thoughts turned to the long-awaited Second Coming of Christ and thence to Armageddon.
- As if fulfilling the portentous predictions of some medieval soothsayer, the first year of this new century has witnessed an unprecedented catalogue of warnings of the cumulative effects of climate change.
- What made words (or at least particular kinds of words such as oaths) seem so threatening and portentous?
- The book opens with a haunting and portentous prologue that simultaneously catalyses the twin narrative strands of the novel, presages its thematic concerns and gives a first taste of the dark symbolism with which it is heavily laden.
- In fewer than 100 pages, we travel from a haunted garden to the very gates of hell, via ominous encounters, portentous conversations and moments of absurd levity.
- Forget everything you know about TV news - the portentous opening line, the handoff to your anchormate, the ominous toss to the reporter on remote.
- An example is the opening scene, in which the portentous water drops and golden filters are far too over-the-top in their attempt to highlight that scene's importance.
- The first half of the movie is full of dreadful portentous moments that either go nowhere or end in cheap shocks.
Synonyms
ominous, warning, foreshadowing, predictive, premonitory, prognosticatory, momentous, fateful
threatening, menacing, foreboding, sinister, ill-omened, inauspicious, unpropitious, unpromising, gloomy, unfavourable
1. 1.1 Done in a pompously or overly solemn manner so as to impress.
  自命不凡的；矜持的
  the author's portentous moralizings
  作者自命不凡的说教。
  Example sentencesExamples
  Lou gently lay Bev's hand back on the mattress and bowed his head with a solemnity that Nora thought both tender and portentous.
  This is all very solemn and portentous, but it's impossible to shake the feeling this is a virtuoso example of preaching to the converted.
  The judging panel decried previous Booker choices as being ‘pompous, portentous and pretentious’, and promoted Waters and her fellow nominees as the writers truly deserving of attention.
  Don't go getting the impression that Demonstration is at all pompous or portentous, though.
  His rhetoric is humorless and portentous - he always sounds to me like a slightly demented Episcopal bishop.
  While we study the pictures we are assaulted by an overblown, portentous, bombastic Bernard Herrmann score that borders on self-parody.
  Music that has a megalomaniac quality, that creates a portentous grandiosity without much in the way of inner self-reflexivity.
  Synonyms
  pompous, bombastic, self-important, pontifical, ponderous, solemn, sonorous, grandiloquent, declamatory, overblown, overripe, inflated, rhetorical, oratorical

Derivatives

portentously

adverb pɔːˈtɛntəsli

‘The President is coming,’ he announces portentously.
Example sentencesExamples
- While insisting on his progressive credentials, McKibben warns portentously that these technologies threaten to ‘erode our sense of humanity’.
- The national security adviser portentously described the coming conflict as an event ‘that could literally decide the balance of power in the world for years to come.’
- That doesn't mean there are no insights to be gained therein: indeed, the film benefits hugely from having smarter, sharper insights than a lot of other films that portentously play up their supposed philosophical insights.
- Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps portentously, since that night the band seem to have been present at a number of the rare moments in my life here where I am actually content to live in the moment, in Singapore.
- If Haneke seems portentously to insist on a metaphorical dimension during this sequence, with its audio overlaps, he makes a similar metaphorical point more subtly through the very nature of his subject and setting.

portentousness

nounpɔːˈtɛntəsnəspɔrˈtɛn(t)əsnəs

James Hall introduces his book with untypical portentousness, asserting that we need to understand Michelangelo, ‘if we really want to understand our culture’.
Example sentencesExamples
- Archie carries volume and weight and just the right edge of portentousness to give the viewer insight as well as satisfaction.
- Few books about spirituality are so devoid of portentousness or pretense.
- Moving away from allegory and portentousness and into more lyrical and fantastical realms, Messer at the same time sticks closer to home for subject matter.
- One of its aims seems to be to oppose the portentousness of so many other French films.
- Believers in propaganda by deed, usually choose to invest themselves with portentousness by selecting an anniversary that will freight their murder with meaning.

Rhymes

momentous

Definition of portentous in US English:

portentous

adjectivepɔrˈtɛn(t)əspôrˈten(t)əs

1Of or like a portent.
预示性的；征兆似的
the envelope and its portentous contents
那个信封及其预示性的内容。
Example sentencesExamples
- He delights in tracing similarities of metaphor, suggestive accidents of fate, portentous parallels, uncanny coincidences, and unexpected connections.
- What made words (or at least particular kinds of words such as oaths) seem so threatening and portentous?
- The portentous original plan was to make three trilogies and so far we've been subjected to all three of the middle trilogy and, more recently, two of the first.
- An example is the opening scene, in which the portentous water drops and golden filters are far too over-the-top in their attempt to highlight that scene's importance.
- If the United Workers Party brass read the portentous signs, none was man enough to call their leader away from his Independence Day preparations and warn him of the gathering storm clouds.
- Forget everything you know about TV news - the portentous opening line, the handoff to your anchormate, the ominous toss to the reporter on remote.
- Ugly as they are, I'm finding lots of useful material - old commercials, sound effects, peculiar remarks, portentous musical cues.
- In fewer than 100 pages, we travel from a haunted garden to the very gates of hell, via ominous encounters, portentous conversations and moments of absurd levity.
- Right from the portentous and pretentious but utterly muddled opening voice-over that quite inadequately sets the stage, this movie is an embarrassment of unintentional laughs.
- Miller had the advantage of having seen the play in the early 90s, when it was momentous and portentous.
- The idiocy, and it is perennial, is to look at polls three or six or nine months out and make these pretentious and portentous conclusions before any human being has voted.
- As if fulfilling the portentous predictions of some medieval soothsayer, the first year of this new century has witnessed an unprecedented catalogue of warnings of the cumulative effects of climate change.
- It starts out OK, with a portentous and intriguing set up, but gets steadily cheesier and more melodramatic, until the author pulls out a genuine deus ex machina for the ending.
- The scene is grim and portentous, and a sense of foreboding looms.
- As the portentous millennium approached, evangelical thoughts turned to the long-awaited Second Coming of Christ and thence to Armageddon.
- Friedman, an unalloyed idealist when it comes to capitalism, and concomitantly (he supposes) a rampant technophile, is suddenly sober and portentous when it comes to Iraq.
- The book opens with a haunting and portentous prologue that simultaneously catalyses the twin narrative strands of the novel, presages its thematic concerns and gives a first taste of the dark symbolism with which it is heavily laden.
- The first half of the movie is full of dreadful portentous moments that either go nowhere or end in cheap shocks.
- The film blends documentary and fiction, but the attempts at actual documentary, via old photos and a portentous narration, aren't worth the trouble.
- His recent momentous, and portentous, decision to say that he doesn't need any more of our money, and that he'll be giving his future material away, will have repercussions for countless artists in later years.
Synonyms
ominous, warning, foreshadowing, predictive, premonitory, prognosticatory, momentous, fateful
1. 1.1 Done in a pompously or overly solemn manner so as to impress.
  自命不凡的；矜持的
  the author's portentous moralizings
  作者自命不凡的说教。
  Example sentencesExamples
  His rhetoric is humorless and portentous - he always sounds to me like a slightly demented Episcopal bishop.
  Don't go getting the impression that Demonstration is at all pompous or portentous, though.
  Lou gently lay Bev's hand back on the mattress and bowed his head with a solemnity that Nora thought both tender and portentous.
  Music that has a megalomaniac quality, that creates a portentous grandiosity without much in the way of inner self-reflexivity.
  This is all very solemn and portentous, but it's impossible to shake the feeling this is a virtuoso example of preaching to the converted.
  The judging panel decried previous Booker choices as being ‘pompous, portentous and pretentious’, and promoted Waters and her fellow nominees as the writers truly deserving of attention.
  While we study the pictures we are assaulted by an overblown, portentous, bombastic Bernard Herrmann score that borders on self-parody.
  Synonyms
  pompous, bombastic, self-important, pontifical, ponderous, solemn, sonorous, grandiloquent, declamatory, overblown, overripe, inflated, rhetorical, oratorical

词汇	portentous
释义	Definition of portentous in English: portentous adjective pɔːˈtɛntəspɔrˈtɛn(t)əs 1Of or like a portent; of momentous significance. this portentous year in Canadian history Example sentencesExamples Ugly as they are, I'm finding lots of useful material - old commercials, sound effects, peculiar remarks, portentous musical cues. The portentous original plan was to make three trilogies and so far we've been subjected to all three of the middle trilogy and, more recently, two of the first. Right from the portentous and pretentious but utterly muddled opening voice-over that quite inadequately sets the stage, this movie is an embarrassment of unintentional laughs. The scene is grim and portentous, and a sense of foreboding looms. It starts out OK, with a portentous and intriguing set up, but gets steadily cheesier and more melodramatic, until the author pulls out a genuine deus ex machina for the ending. If the United Workers Party brass read the portentous signs, none was man enough to call their leader away from his Independence Day preparations and warn him of the gathering storm clouds. His recent momentous, and portentous, decision to say that he doesn't need any more of our money, and that he'll be giving his future material away, will have repercussions for countless artists in later years. The idiocy, and it is perennial, is to look at polls three or six or nine months out and make these pretentious and portentous conclusions before any human being has voted. He delights in tracing similarities of metaphor, suggestive accidents of fate, portentous parallels, uncanny coincidences, and unexpected connections. Friedman, an unalloyed idealist when it comes to capitalism, and concomitantly (he supposes) a rampant technophile, is suddenly sober and portentous when it comes to Iraq. Miller had the advantage of having seen the play in the early 90s, when it was momentous and portentous. The film blends documentary and fiction, but the attempts at actual documentary, via old photos and a portentous narration, aren't worth the trouble. As the portentous millennium approached, evangelical thoughts turned to the long-awaited Second Coming of Christ and thence to Armageddon. As if fulfilling the portentous predictions of some medieval soothsayer, the first year of this new century has witnessed an unprecedented catalogue of warnings of the cumulative effects of climate change. What made words (or at least particular kinds of words such as oaths) seem so threatening and portentous? The book opens with a haunting and portentous prologue that simultaneously catalyses the twin narrative strands of the novel, presages its thematic concerns and gives a first taste of the dark symbolism with which it is heavily laden. In fewer than 100 pages, we travel from a haunted garden to the very gates of hell, via ominous encounters, portentous conversations and moments of absurd levity. Forget everything you know about TV news - the portentous opening line, the handoff to your anchormate, the ominous toss to the reporter on remote. An example is the opening scene, in which the portentous water drops and golden filters are far too over-the-top in their attempt to highlight that scene's importance. The first half of the movie is full of dreadful portentous moments that either go nowhere or end in cheap shocks. Synonyms ominous, warning, foreshadowing, predictive, premonitory, prognosticatory, momentous, fateful threatening, menacing, foreboding, sinister, ill-omened, inauspicious, unpropitious, unpromising, gloomy, unfavourable 1.1 Done in a pompously or overly solemn manner so as to impress. 自命不凡的；矜持的 the author's portentous moralizings 作者自命不凡的说教。 Example sentencesExamples Lou gently lay Bev's hand back on the mattress and bowed his head with a solemnity that Nora thought both tender and portentous. This is all very solemn and portentous, but it's impossible to shake the feeling this is a virtuoso example of preaching to the converted. The judging panel decried previous Booker choices as being ‘pompous, portentous and pretentious’, and promoted Waters and her fellow nominees as the writers truly deserving of attention. Don't go getting the impression that Demonstration is at all pompous or portentous, though. His rhetoric is humorless and portentous - he always sounds to me like a slightly demented Episcopal bishop. While we study the pictures we are assaulted by an overblown, portentous, bombastic Bernard Herrmann score that borders on self-parody. Music that has a megalomaniac quality, that creates a portentous grandiosity without much in the way of inner self-reflexivity. Synonyms pompous, bombastic, self-important, pontifical, ponderous, solemn, sonorous, grandiloquent, declamatory, overblown, overripe, inflated, rhetorical, oratorical Derivatives portentously adverb pɔːˈtɛntəsli ‘The President is coming,’ he announces portentously. Example sentencesExamples While insisting on his progressive credentials, McKibben warns portentously that these technologies threaten to ‘erode our sense of humanity’. The national security adviser portentously described the coming conflict as an event ‘that could literally decide the balance of power in the world for years to come.’ That doesn't mean there are no insights to be gained therein: indeed, the film benefits hugely from having smarter, sharper insights than a lot of other films that portentously play up their supposed philosophical insights. Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps portentously, since that night the band seem to have been present at a number of the rare moments in my life here where I am actually content to live in the moment, in Singapore. If Haneke seems portentously to insist on a metaphorical dimension during this sequence, with its audio overlaps, he makes a similar metaphorical point more subtly through the very nature of his subject and setting. portentousness nounpɔːˈtɛntəsnəspɔrˈtɛn(t)əsnəs James Hall introduces his book with untypical portentousness, asserting that we need to understand Michelangelo, ‘if we really want to understand our culture’. Example sentencesExamples Archie carries volume and weight and just the right edge of portentousness to give the viewer insight as well as satisfaction. Few books about spirituality are so devoid of portentousness or pretense. Moving away from allegory and portentousness and into more lyrical and fantastical realms, Messer at the same time sticks closer to home for subject matter. One of its aims seems to be to oppose the portentousness of so many other French films. Believers in propaganda by deed, usually choose to invest themselves with portentousness by selecting an anniversary that will freight their murder with meaning. Rhymes momentous Definition of portentous in US English: portentous adjectivepɔrˈtɛn(t)əspôrˈten(t)əs 1Of or like a portent. 预示性的；征兆似的 the envelope and its portentous contents 那个信封及其预示性的内容。 Example sentencesExamples He delights in tracing similarities of metaphor, suggestive accidents of fate, portentous parallels, uncanny coincidences, and unexpected connections. What made words (or at least particular kinds of words such as oaths) seem so threatening and portentous? The portentous original plan was to make three trilogies and so far we've been subjected to all three of the middle trilogy and, more recently, two of the first. An example is the opening scene, in which the portentous water drops and golden filters are far too over-the-top in their attempt to highlight that scene's importance. If the United Workers Party brass read the portentous signs, none was man enough to call their leader away from his Independence Day preparations and warn him of the gathering storm clouds. Forget everything you know about TV news - the portentous opening line, the handoff to your anchormate, the ominous toss to the reporter on remote. Ugly as they are, I'm finding lots of useful material - old commercials, sound effects, peculiar remarks, portentous musical cues. In fewer than 100 pages, we travel from a haunted garden to the very gates of hell, via ominous encounters, portentous conversations and moments of absurd levity. Right from the portentous and pretentious but utterly muddled opening voice-over that quite inadequately sets the stage, this movie is an embarrassment of unintentional laughs. Miller had the advantage of having seen the play in the early 90s, when it was momentous and portentous. The idiocy, and it is perennial, is to look at polls three or six or nine months out and make these pretentious and portentous conclusions before any human being has voted. As if fulfilling the portentous predictions of some medieval soothsayer, the first year of this new century has witnessed an unprecedented catalogue of warnings of the cumulative effects of climate change. It starts out OK, with a portentous and intriguing set up, but gets steadily cheesier and more melodramatic, until the author pulls out a genuine deus ex machina for the ending. The scene is grim and portentous, and a sense of foreboding looms. As the portentous millennium approached, evangelical thoughts turned to the long-awaited Second Coming of Christ and thence to Armageddon. Friedman, an unalloyed idealist when it comes to capitalism, and concomitantly (he supposes) a rampant technophile, is suddenly sober and portentous when it comes to Iraq. The book opens with a haunting and portentous prologue that simultaneously catalyses the twin narrative strands of the novel, presages its thematic concerns and gives a first taste of the dark symbolism with which it is heavily laden. The first half of the movie is full of dreadful portentous moments that either go nowhere or end in cheap shocks. The film blends documentary and fiction, but the attempts at actual documentary, via old photos and a portentous narration, aren't worth the trouble. His recent momentous, and portentous, decision to say that he doesn't need any more of our money, and that he'll be giving his future material away, will have repercussions for countless artists in later years. Synonyms ominous, warning, foreshadowing, predictive, premonitory, prognosticatory, momentous, fateful 1.1 Done in a pompously or overly solemn manner so as to impress. 自命不凡的；矜持的 the author's portentous moralizings 作者自命不凡的说教。 Example sentencesExamples His rhetoric is humorless and portentous - he always sounds to me like a slightly demented Episcopal bishop. Don't go getting the impression that Demonstration is at all pompous or portentous, though. Lou gently lay Bev's hand back on the mattress and bowed his head with a solemnity that Nora thought both tender and portentous. Music that has a megalomaniac quality, that creates a portentous grandiosity without much in the way of inner self-reflexivity. This is all very solemn and portentous, but it's impossible to shake the feeling this is a virtuoso example of preaching to the converted. The judging panel decried previous Booker choices as being ‘pompous, portentous and pretentious’, and promoted Waters and her fellow nominees as the writers truly deserving of attention. While we study the pictures we are assaulted by an overblown, portentous, bombastic Bernard Herrmann score that borders on self-parody. Synonyms pompous, bombastic, self-important, pontifical, ponderous, solemn, sonorous, grandiloquent, declamatory, overblown, overripe, inflated, rhetorical, oratorical
随便看	go out of one's mind go out of one's way go out of one's way go out of one's way to go out of operation go out (of) the window go out of the window go out (of) the window go out of use go out of way go out on a limb go out on the knocker go out on the town go out the window go out with go over go over go over again go over (and over) go over big go overboard go overboard go overboard with go over like a lead balloon go over like a lead balloon