portentously
English edit
Etymology edit
portentous + -ly
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
portentously (comparative more portentously, superlative most portentously)
- In an ominous manner.
- Synonym: ominously
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXXVIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 318:
- The cold light of the moon touched every face with unnatural paleness; and the silence was unbroken and portentously profound.
- 1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 121:
- At that moment a long, scraggy individual in a checked suit poked his head into the bar, looked around portentously, whistled mysteriously to my informant, and jerked his thumb and head in the direction of the door.
- 2010 September 27, Malcolm Gladwell, “Small Change”, in The New Yorker[1]:
- Shirky ends the story of the lost Sidekick by asking, portentously, “What happens next?”—no doubt imagining future waves of digital protesters.
- In a pompous manner.
Translations edit
in an ominous manner
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in a pompous manner
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