ominous premonition

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "ominous premonition" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when describing a feeling or sense that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen. Example: "As she walked through the dark forest, an ominous premonition settled in her stomach, warning her of impending danger."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Academia

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

4 human-written examples

Instead, the light comes sneaking through and Jacobi delivers "Blow winds, and crack your cheeks" in a hoarse whisper, rivetingly, his eyes closed in concentration and an ominous premonition of the play's blindness theme.

Independent

And then she made an ominous premonition, saying, "Honestly, for me, it's over".

Huffington Post

It ends with "The Tormentors," where figures and objects have dissolved into abstract markings, and a sense of ominous premonition is suggested not by imagery but by spatial compression, dusky color and fractured line.

Los Angeles Times

In 2000, filmmaker Mike Figgis experimented with temporality in Timecode, in which the entire screen resembles the four quadrants of a security feed, providing a rather ominous premonition, intentional or not, of a culture under constant surveillance.

Vice

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

56 human-written examples

The novelist character and the letter writer both have ominous premonitions of being attacked or killed, while a sinister professor stalks the three narratives, trying to control the characters.

The New Yorker

At Daniel Weinberg Gallery, the New Yorker's pictures of helicopters, octopuses, giant crystals and ruined buildings have the presence of ominous premonitions -- unverifiable claims about the future that can neither be believed nor dismissed but assail the rational mind with their eerie resemblance to the present.

Los Angeles Times

The gloom intensifies with the arrival of their housekeeper, Cassandra (Svetlana Efremova), who is given to ominous premonitions, and a surprise visit by the third sibling, Masha (Pamela J. Gray), a film and TV actress who foots the bills, but is generally too self-absorbed to check in.

Los Angeles Times

The album's standout track, In God's House, is all ominous electronics, Khan's otherworldly voice run through with premonition.

The Guardian - Music

In the card scene, the lively duet for Frasquita and Mercédès turns ominous when Carmen intervenes; the fate motif underlines her premonition of death.

Wikipedia

The strings' tremulous and ominous figuration at the start of the allegro, after the symphony's short, mysterious introduction (itself full of symphonic premonitions, only realised much later in the piece), becomes a teasing ear-worm the first time you hear it.

The Guardian - Music

His premonition proved right.

The Guardian - Books

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Use "ominous premonition" to create suspense or foreshadow negative events in narratives. For example, "The character had an ominous premonition before entering the haunted house".

Common error

Avoid using "ominous premonition" when a simpler term like "intuition" or "feeling" would suffice. Overusing dramatic language can dilute its impact. Instead choose a phrase to convey an intuition about a threatening event, not just a general idea or notion.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "ominous premonition" functions as a noun phrase, where "ominous" modifies the noun "premonition". It describes a feeling or sense that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen. According to Ludwig, this phrase is considered correct and usable in English.

Expression frequency: Rare

Frequent in

News & Media

75%

Academia

25%

Science

0%

Less common in

Formal & Business

0%

Wiki

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, "ominous premonition" is a grammatically sound and semantically rich phrase used to express a strong feeling that something negative is about to occur. Ludwig AI validates its correctness and utility in written English. Though relatively rare in overall usage, it frequently appears in News & Media and academic contexts. When writing, use it to build suspense and create a sense of foreboding, but avoid overuse to prevent diluting the phrase's effect. Alternatives like "foreboding feeling" or "sense of impending doom" can be used for variety. The phrase’s directness ensures that it is a useful and powerful tool for writers.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

ominous presentiment

Substitutes "premonition" with "presentiment", which is a slightly more formal synonym.

ill foreboding

Uses the adjective "ill" to directly modify "foreboding", adding a negative connotation.

foreboding feeling

Changes "ominous premonition" to a more general sense of unease without necessarily implying a specific future event.

feeling of foreboding

Replaces "premonition" with "feeling", focusing on the emotional aspect rather than the predictive element.

sense of impending doom

Emphasizes the feeling of something terrible about to happen, intensifying the sense of dread.

dark intuition

Replaces "premonition" with "intuition", implying a subconscious awareness of impending negativity.

threatening omen

Focuses on the external sign or signal (omen) that suggests impending danger, rather than the internal feeling.

uneasy feeling

Offers a milder expression, indicating discomfort rather than a strong anticipation of something negative.

nagging feeling

Suggests a persistent, bothersome feeling that something is wrong, without necessarily implying a specific future event.

shadow of things to come

A more metaphorical phrase, evoking a sense of future negative events casting a "shadow" over the present.

FAQs

How can I effectively use "ominous premonition" in a sentence?

Use "ominous premonition" to signal a sense of impending doom or misfortune. For example, "Before the storm, she had an ominous premonition that something terrible was about to happen."

What are some alternatives to "ominous premonition"?

You can use alternatives like "foreboding feeling", "sense of impending doom", or "ill foreboding" to convey a similar meaning.

Is "ominous premonition" a formal or informal expression?

"Ominous premonition" can be used in both formal and informal contexts, but it is more common in literary or narrative settings. It could appear in News & Media or encyclopedias.

How does an "ominous premonition" differ from a regular "premonition"?

A regular "premonition" is a feeling that something is about to happen, while an "ominous premonition" specifically indicates that the event is negative or threatening. The word ominous highlights the threatening nature of the feeling.