por·ten·tous /pɔrˈtɛntəs, por-/
(a.)前兆的,不吉的,可驚的,奇怪的,自大的
Por·tent·ous a.
1. Of the nature of a portent; containing portents; foreshadowing, esp. foreshadowing ill; ominous.
For, I believe, they are portentous things. --Shak.
Victories of strange and almost portentous splendor. --Macaulay.
2. Hence: Monstrous; prodigious; wonderful; dreadful; as, a beast of portentous size.
-- Por*tent*ous*ly, adv. -- Por*tent*ous*ness, n.
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portentous
adj 1: of momentous or ominous significance; "such a
portentous...monster raised all my curiosity"- Herman
Melville; "a prodigious vision" [syn: prodigious]
2: of ominous significance [syn: fateful, foreboding(a)]
3: puffed up with vanity; "a grandiloquent and boastful
manner"; "overblown oratory"; "a pompous speech";
"pseudo-scientific gobbledygook and pontifical hooey"-
Newsweek [syn: grandiloquent, overblown, pompous, pontifical]