sayitsayit
Pronunciation

How to pronounce “ominous”

“ominous” is pronounced /ˈɑmənəs/ (AH-muh-nuhs) in American English and /ɒmɪnəs/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “om”.
The sound

Say “ominous” in 3 beats

Say it like this

ominous

/ˈɑmənəs/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ɒmɪnəs/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

3 beats
  1. omɑstress
  2. inmə
  3. ousnəs
IPA (American)
/ˈɑmənəs/
IPA (British)
/ɒmɪnəs/
Respelling
AH-muh-nuhs
Syllables
3 — OM-in-ous
Stress
Stress the first syllable: OM-in-ous. “om” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
adjective
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈɑmənəs/

British

/ɒmɪnəs/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “ominous” means

  1. adjective

    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments

    “a baleful look”

  2. adjective

    presaging ill fortune; ; ; - P.B.Shelley

    “ill omens”

Say it in a sentence

“An ominous grey bank of cloud sat over the hills.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

5 sounds, in the order you say them
ɑahmməschwa×2nnss

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

“ominous”, answered

How do you pronounce “ominous”?

“ominous” is pronounced /ˈɑmənəs/ (AH-muh-nuhs) in American English and /ɒmɪnəs/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “om”. Build it as OM-in-ous, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “ominous” have?

3: om · in · ous. The beat lands on the first, “om”.

Is “ominous” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈɑmənəs/ (AH-muh-nuhs); British English says /ɒmɪnəs/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “ominous” mean?

As an adjective: threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments For example: “a baleful look” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “ominous”?

Stress the first syllable: OM-in-ous. “om” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “ominous” and see every sound

Record it once and sayit lines your audio up against the target sound by sound — what landed, what slipped, and what it sounded like instead.

Practise this word freeMore words with O