portents
Signs of doom
Portents is the plural of portent—signs or omens foretelling future events, especially ominous ones.
The word carries a sense of weight and significance: dark portents of war, portents of doom.
Unusual occurrences—eclipses, comets, strange weather—have historically been read as portents.
The word sometimes appears ironically for lesser premonitions: The traffic jam was a portent of how the day would go.
Prophetic indicator
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- doomUnavoidable grim fate
- gloomPervasive dimness or dejection
- menaceSource of potential harm
threat · ominous · sinister · eerie · darkness · shadow · premonition · apprehension
One who foreshadows
- indicatorSign revealing status
- signalMessage-conveying cue
- omenProphetic indicator
- tokenRepresentative placeholder
manifestation · mark · symptom · evidence · hint · clue · precursor · foreshadowing
Urgent warning signal
- alertWarning or watchfulness
- cautionCareful attention to risk
- admonitionMild verbal correction
- forewarningNotice of future trouble
red flag · wake-up call · harbinger · herald · clarion call · heads-up · premonition · caveat
Foretelling of future events
- oracleAuthoritative wisdom source
- seerOne who envisions futures
- divinationForetelling through mystical means
- auguryOmen interpretation practice
soothsayer · clairvoyant · visionary · sibyl · prognostication · presage · foretell · astrologer
Inclined toward approval
- propitiousFavorable for success
- blessingPrayer seeking divine favor
- boonHelpful benefit received
- promisingShowing signs of success
hopeful · fortunate · golden · bright · prosperity · serendipity · harbinger · herald
omen
Prophetic indicator
menace · threat · ominous · sinister · eerie · darkness · shadow · premonition · apprehension · unease
harbinger
One who foreshadows
token · manifestation · mark · symptom · evidence · hint · clue · precursor · foreshadowing · herald
alarm
Urgent warning signal
- alertWarning or watchfulness
- cautionCareful attention to risk
- admonitionMild verbal correction
forewarning · red flag · wake-up call · harbinger · herald · clarion call · heads-up · premonition · caveat · notice
prophecy
Foretelling of future events
- oracleAuthoritative wisdom source
- seerOne who envisions futures
- divinationForetelling through mystical means
augury · soothsayer · clairvoyant · visionary · sibyl · prognostication · presage · foretell · astrologer · precognition
favorable
Inclined toward approval
- propitiousFavorable for success
- blessingPrayer seeking divine favor
- boonHelpful benefit received
promising · hopeful · fortunate · golden · bright · prosperity · serendipity · harbinger · herald · good omen
- mythsmyth, legend, fable, fairy tale, folk tale
- supernaturalghosts, ghost, witches, spirits, vampire
- omensomens, omen, signs, augury, harbinger
- premonitionspremonitions, forebodings, presentiments, forewarnings, omens
- superstitionssuperstition, superstitions, hexes, black cats, broken mirror
- divinationdivination, fortune telling, fortune-telling, fortune teller, tarot
portentscertainties
Assured truths
facts · hard evidence · actualities · realities · fait accompli
portentsretrospectives
Surveys of past work
historical records · hindsight · chronicles · aftermaths · past events
portend, portent, portentous, portentously, portends, portending, portended, portentousness