Dreadful vs Ominous - What's the difference?
dreadful | ominous |
Causing dread; very bad.
* 1900 , , (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) Chapter 23
*, chapter=17
, title= * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 10, author=Marc Higginson, work=BBC Sport
, title= Of or pertaining to an omen or to omens; being or exhibiting an omen; significant.
Specifically, giving indication of a coming ill; being an evil omen; threatening; portentous; inauspicious.
* California poll support for Jerry Brown's tax increases has ominous implications for U.S. taxpayers too Los Angeles Times Headline April 25, 2011
* {{quote-news
, year=2012
, date=April 29
, author=Nathan Rabin
, title=TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)
As adjectives the difference between dreadful and ominous
is that dreadful is causing dread; very bad while ominous is of or pertaining to an omen or to omens; being or exhibiting an omen; significant.As a noun dreadful
is a shocking or sensational crime.dreadful
English
Alternative forms
* (l) (archaic) * (l) (obsolete)Adjective
(en adjective)- "My greatest wish now," she added, "is to get back to Kansas, for Aunt Em will surely think something dreadful has happened to me, and that will make her put on mourning; and unless the crops are better this year than they were last, I am sure Uncle Henry cannot afford it."
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.}}
Bolton 1-2 Aston Villa, passage=After a dreadful performance in the opening 45 minutes, they upped their game after the break and might have taken at least a point from the match.}}
Usage notes
* Nouns to which "dreadful" is often applied: day, night, state, news, time, secret, storm, mistake, accident, story, dream, havoc, truth, loss, act, life, thought, creature, curse, suffering.Derived terms
* penny dreadfulReferences
* (EtymOnLine)ominous
English
Adjective
(en adjective)citation, page= , passage=The idea of a merchant selling both totems of pure evil and frozen yogurt (he calls it frogurt!) is amusing in itself, as is the idea that frogurt could be cursed, but it’s really the Shopkeeper’s quicksilver shift from ominous doomsaying to chipper salesmanship that sells the sequence.}}