Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Marked by or promising bad fortune; unlucky: "Ill-omened" describes something that seems to be a sign of, or likely to lead to, future misfortune or disaster. It implies a sense of being doomed or fated to end badly from the very beginning.

Usage

The word "ill-omened" is a formal and literary adjective. It is typically used to describe events, projects, relationships, or endeavors that seem destined for failure or tragedy, often based on early signs or a general feeling of foreboding. It is used attributively (before a noun).

Examples

• Adjective:
  • The expedition set off on an ill-omened day, with dark clouds gathering overhead.
  • Many considered the treaty to be ill-omened and predicted it would lead to conflict.
  • Their ill-omened alliance was fraught with problems from the very first meeting.

Advanced Usage

• "Ill-omened" as a descriptor: The word often carries a dramatic, almost mythological weight, suggesting fate or supernatural signs are at work against success.
  • The king ignored the prophet's ill-omened warnings at his peril.

Variants and Related Words

• Ill-fated (adj): Destined to fail or end tragically. (Very close synonym, slightly more common).
  • The ill-fated voyage of the Titanic.
• Ill-starred (adj): Born under or influenced by an unlucky star; unlucky. (A poetic synonym).
  • Their ill-starred love was the subject of many poems.
• Doomed (adj): Certain to fail, suffer death, or be destroyed.
  • The doomed rebellion was quickly crushed.
• Unlucky (adj): Having, bringing, or resulting from bad luck. (A more general and less formal term).
  • He was an unlucky gambler.

Synonyms

• Inauspicious: Not conducive to success; unpromising.
• Portentous: Of or like a portent; ominously significant.
• Sinister: Giving the impression that something harmful or evil is happening or will happen.

Idioms and Phrases

• "Born under an ill star": An idiom meaning to be unlucky in life, closely related to "ill-starred."
  • He seemed born under an ill star, as misfortune followed him everywhere.

Adjective

1. marked by or promising bad fortune
   • their business venture was doomed from the start
   • an ill-fated business venture
   • an ill-starred romance
   • the unlucky prisoner was again put in irons- W.H.Prescott