portentously

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English

Etymology

From portentous +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pɔː(ɹ)ˈtɛn.təs.li/

Adverb

portentously (comparative more portentously, superlative most portentously)

  1. In an ominous manner.
    Synonym: ominously
    • 1834, L E L, chapter XXXVIII, in Francesca Carrara.  In Three Volumes.">…], 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:
      Shirky ends the story of the lost Sidekick by asking, portentously, “What happens next?”—no doubt imagining future waves of digital protesters.
  2. In a pompous manner.

Translations