portent
Warning of doom
A portent is a sign or warning of something momentous, usually something bad: Dark clouds gathered on the horizon, a portent of the storm to come.
The word carries an ominous weight—portents precede disasters, upheavals, or dramatic change.
Something portentous is either full of such significance or, more commonly now, pompously self-important.
Prophetic indicator
- prophecyForetelling of future events
- auguryOmen interpretation practice
- harbingerOne who foreshadows
- presageIndicate beforehand
foreshadowing · premonition · oracle · prognostication · foretelling · sign · foretoken · auspice
Intense anticipatory fear
- apprehensionNervous anticipation of trouble
- ominousSuggesting something bad approaches
- menaceSource of potential harm
- doomUnavoidable grim fate
gloom · threat · trepidation · unease · anxiety · misgiving · foreboding · sinister
One who envisions futures
- oracleAuthoritative wisdom source
- soothsayerOne who predicts futures
- divinationForetelling through mystical means
- clairvoyantOne who perceives beyond senses
sibyl · diviner · augur · prophet · visionary · scryer · pythia · cassandra
Sign revealing status
- signalMessage-conveying cue
- heraldOfficial news announcer
- precursorSomething that comes first
- symptomIndicator of disease
mark · token · hint · clue · bellwether · forerunner · forewarning · red flag
Visible supernatural manifestation
- specterGhostly threatening presence
- marvelAstonishing thing or feeling
- wonderAmazement or curiosity
- prodigyGifted youth with rare talent
miracle · phenomenon · vision · ghostly · eerie · uncanny · preternatural · otherworldly
omen
Prophetic indicator
presage · foreshadowing · premonition · oracle · prognostication · foretelling · sign · foretoken · auspice · prodigy
dread
Intense anticipatory fear
- apprehensionNervous anticipation of trouble
- ominousSuggesting something bad approaches
- menaceSource of potential harm
doom · gloom · threat · trepidation · unease · anxiety · misgiving · foreboding · sinister · dark
seer
One who envisions futures
- oracleAuthoritative wisdom source
- soothsayerOne who predicts futures
- divinationForetelling through mystical means
clairvoyant · sibyl · diviner · augur · prophet · visionary · scryer · pythia · cassandra · fortune-teller
indicator
Sign revealing status
symptom · mark · token · hint · clue · bellwether · forerunner · forewarning · red flag · evidence
apparition
Visible supernatural manifestation
prodigy · miracle · phenomenon · vision · ghostly · eerie · uncanny · preternatural · otherworldly · comet
- fortunelucky, luck, fortune, fate, destiny
- omensomens, omen, signs, augury, harbinger
- superstitionblack cat, broken mirror, Friday the 13th, walking under ladder, evil eye
- divinationdivination, fortune telling, fortune-telling, fortune teller, tarot
- symbolismsymbol, symbols, allegory, metaphor, archetype
- celestial signsAries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo
portenthindsight
Recognition after the fact
retrospection · postmortem · afterthought · aftermath · rearview
portentexpectation
Belief about future outcomes
certainty · prediction · probability · forecast · calculation
portend, portentous, portentously, portents, portends, portending, portended