Does the word “ominous” have a positive connotation in “ominous music”?
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I have seen many occurrences of the word "ominous" in contexts that do not convey any negative meaning. Maybe the word "ominous" has a particular connotation that I am not aware of. Could you suggest some synonyms of the word "ominous" in the context of music?
word-usage
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seeeker
3043516
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I have seen many occurrences of the word "ominous" in contexts that do not convey any negative meaning. Maybe the word "ominous" has a particular connotation that I am not aware of. Could you suggest some synonyms of the word "ominous" in the context of music?
word-usage
asked yesterday
seeeker
3043516
4
Ominous music is what gets played when the director wants to give the impression that something bad might happen. but this is the standard dictionary definition.
– Jim
yesterday
as for positive, it might be a bit like "sticky" - you certainly want your packing tape to be sticky but a 'sticky situation' isn't a positive. ... but as Jim points out, describing music at being ~good at~ creating a bad impression - it might be a compliment to the composers abilities suggesting his creation was apt for the use ? (ok, if that is too abstract.. ignore this comment)
– Tom22
yesterday
2
Please edit to include some of the positive (or neutral) examples you've seen.
– Lawrence
yesterday
Google "ominous meaning" -- that will also bring up synonyms for you. Good Luck.
– Kris
21 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
favorite
up vote
0
down vote
favorite
I have seen many occurrences of the word "ominous" in contexts that do not convey any negative meaning. Maybe the word "ominous" has a particular connotation that I am not aware of. Could you suggest some synonyms of the word "ominous" in the context of music?
word-usage
asked yesterday
seeeker
3043516
I have seen many occurrences of the word "ominous" in contexts that do not convey any negative meaning. Maybe the word "ominous" has a particular connotation that I am not aware of. Could you suggest some synonyms of the word "ominous" in the context of music?
word-usage
word-usage
asked yesterday
seeeker
3043516
asked yesterday
seeeker
3043516
asked yesterday
seeeker
3043516
asked yesterday
seeeker
3043516
asked yesterday
seeeker
3043516
3043516
4
Ominous music is what gets played when the director wants to give the impression that something bad might happen. but this is the standard dictionary definition.
– Jim
yesterday
as for positive, it might be a bit like "sticky" - you certainly want your packing tape to be sticky but a 'sticky situation' isn't a positive. ... but as Jim points out, describing music at being ~good at~ creating a bad impression - it might be a compliment to the composers abilities suggesting his creation was apt for the use ? (ok, if that is too abstract.. ignore this comment)
– Tom22
yesterday
2
Please edit to include some of the positive (or neutral) examples you've seen.
– Lawrence
yesterday
Google "ominous meaning" -- that will also bring up synonyms for you. Good Luck.
– Kris
21 hours ago
add a comment |
4
Ominous music is what gets played when the director wants to give the impression that something bad might happen. but this is the standard dictionary definition.
– Jim
yesterday
as for positive, it might be a bit like "sticky" - you certainly want your packing tape to be sticky but a 'sticky situation' isn't a positive. ... but as Jim points out, describing music at being ~good at~ creating a bad impression - it might be a compliment to the composers abilities suggesting his creation was apt for the use ? (ok, if that is too abstract.. ignore this comment)
– Tom22
yesterday
2
Please edit to include some of the positive (or neutral) examples you've seen.
– Lawrence
yesterday
Google "ominous meaning" -- that will also bring up synonyms for you. Good Luck.
– Kris
21 hours ago
4
4
Ominous music is what gets played when the director wants to give the impression that something bad might happen. but this is the standard dictionary definition.
– Jim
yesterday
Ominous music is what gets played when the director wants to give the impression that something bad might happen. but this is the standard dictionary definition.
– Jim
yesterday
as for positive, it might be a bit like "sticky" - you certainly want your packing tape to be sticky but a 'sticky situation' isn't a positive. ... but as Jim points out, describing music at being ~good at~ creating a bad impression - it might be a compliment to the composers abilities suggesting his creation was apt for the use ? (ok, if that is too abstract.. ignore this comment)
– Tom22
yesterday
as for positive, it might be a bit like "sticky" - you certainly want your packing tape to be sticky but a 'sticky situation' isn't a positive. ... but as Jim points out, describing music at being ~good at~ creating a bad impression - it might be a compliment to the composers abilities suggesting his creation was apt for the use ? (ok, if that is too abstract.. ignore this comment)
– Tom22
yesterday
2
2
Please edit to include some of the positive (or neutral) examples you've seen.
– Lawrence
yesterday
Please edit to include some of the positive (or neutral) examples you've seen.
– Lawrence
yesterday
Google "ominous meaning" -- that will also bring up synonyms for you. Good Luck.
– Kris
21 hours ago
Google "ominous meaning" -- that will also bring up synonyms for you. Good Luck.
– Kris
21 hours ago
add a comment |
3 Answers
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There are many qualities that are, in themselves, bad, undesirable, to-be-avoided, but the works of art that incorporate or represent them are nevertheless good, valuable, admirable as works of art. The most obvious example is tragic: it is, by definition, very bad when tragedies happen in real life, but a work of fiction that is a tragedy may be an excellent work of fiction, and its author may be highly respected for being so good at writing tragedies. Similarly we can greatly admire an actor's skill at playing the roles of villains, even though the characters he represents may be very, very, bad. Being ominous is just another example of such a quality: something ominous is, by definition, associated with something bad, but a musical composition that evokes that quality may be very good as a work of art, and we can admire the artistic skills that went into its creation. The word ominous has exactly the same meaning when applied to music as when applied to something else; what makes our reactions to ominous music different from our reactions to other ominous things is that it is music, a work of art.
answered yesterday
jsw29
1,181318
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up vote
-1
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Suspenseful, eerie, eldritch, fateful, foreshadow, adumbrate, prescient, all are in some ways similar to ominous, but my favorite word here is foreboding.
foreboding noun
fore·bod·ing | (ˌ)fȯr-ˈbō-diŋ
Definition of foreboding (Entry 1 of 2)
: the act of one who forebodes
also : an omen, prediction, or presentiment especially of coming evil : PORTENT
It seems that her forebodings were justified.
From Merriam-Webster
Words like apprehensive and anxious don't have the mystical, dire connotation that ominous has, and come off too clinical in this context.
answered yesterday
K Dog
26919
You need to provide a source for your definition. Hint: it's not "Google dictionary", it's Oxford Living Dictionaries that you need to credit.
– Laurel
yesterday
1
I like "foreboding" because it's on a scale -- one boding, two boding, three boding, foreboding, five boding, etc. Most monster movies never get above two boding, but stuff out of Washington gets to five, six, seven boding.
– Hot Licks
yesterday
add a comment |
up vote
-2
down vote
You're asking two different things in the title and body of this post.
Positive/negative connotation: There isn't a positive or negative connotation either way that I am aware, at least regarding the quality of the music, only that it evokes a specific feeling.
Alternative words: You could use foreboding, foreshadowing, or betokening as a synonym for "ominous".
answered yesterday
mRotten
30017
add a comment |
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
0
down vote
There are many qualities that are, in themselves, bad, undesirable, to-be-avoided, but the works of art that incorporate or represent them are nevertheless good, valuable, admirable as works of art. The most obvious example is tragic: it is, by definition, very bad when tragedies happen in real life, but a work of fiction that is a tragedy may be an excellent work of fiction, and its author may be highly respected for being so good at writing tragedies. Similarly we can greatly admire an actor's skill at playing the roles of villains, even though the characters he represents may be very, very, bad. Being ominous is just another example of such a quality: something ominous is, by definition, associated with something bad, but a musical composition that evokes that quality may be very good as a work of art, and we can admire the artistic skills that went into its creation. The word ominous has exactly the same meaning when applied to music as when applied to something else; what makes our reactions to ominous music different from our reactions to other ominous things is that it is music, a work of art.
answered yesterday
jsw29
1,181318
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
There are many qualities that are, in themselves, bad, undesirable, to-be-avoided, but the works of art that incorporate or represent them are nevertheless good, valuable, admirable as works of art. The most obvious example is tragic: it is, by definition, very bad when tragedies happen in real life, but a work of fiction that is a tragedy may be an excellent work of fiction, and its author may be highly respected for being so good at writing tragedies. Similarly we can greatly admire an actor's skill at playing the roles of villains, even though the characters he represents may be very, very, bad. Being ominous is just another example of such a quality: something ominous is, by definition, associated with something bad, but a musical composition that evokes that quality may be very good as a work of art, and we can admire the artistic skills that went into its creation. The word ominous has exactly the same meaning when applied to music as when applied to something else; what makes our reactions to ominous music different from our reactions to other ominous things is that it is music, a work of art.
answered yesterday
jsw29
1,181318
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
There are many qualities that are, in themselves, bad, undesirable, to-be-avoided, but the works of art that incorporate or represent them are nevertheless good, valuable, admirable as works of art. The most obvious example is tragic: it is, by definition, very bad when tragedies happen in real life, but a work of fiction that is a tragedy may be an excellent work of fiction, and its author may be highly respected for being so good at writing tragedies. Similarly we can greatly admire an actor's skill at playing the roles of villains, even though the characters he represents may be very, very, bad. Being ominous is just another example of such a quality: something ominous is, by definition, associated with something bad, but a musical composition that evokes that quality may be very good as a work of art, and we can admire the artistic skills that went into its creation. The word ominous has exactly the same meaning when applied to music as when applied to something else; what makes our reactions to ominous music different from our reactions to other ominous things is that it is music, a work of art.
answered yesterday
jsw29
1,181318
There are many qualities that are, in themselves, bad, undesirable, to-be-avoided, but the works of art that incorporate or represent them are nevertheless good, valuable, admirable as works of art. The most obvious example is tragic: it is, by definition, very bad when tragedies happen in real life, but a work of fiction that is a tragedy may be an excellent work of fiction, and its author may be highly respected for being so good at writing tragedies. Similarly we can greatly admire an actor's skill at playing the roles of villains, even though the characters he represents may be very, very, bad. Being ominous is just another example of such a quality: something ominous is, by definition, associated with something bad, but a musical composition that evokes that quality may be very good as a work of art, and we can admire the artistic skills that went into its creation. The word ominous has exactly the same meaning when applied to music as when applied to something else; what makes our reactions to ominous music different from our reactions to other ominous things is that it is music, a work of art.
answered yesterday
jsw29
1,181318
edited 14 hours ago
answered yesterday
jsw29
1,181318
answered yesterday
jsw29
1,181318
answered yesterday
jsw29
1,181318
1,181318
add a comment |
add a comment |
up vote
-1
down vote
Suspenseful, eerie, eldritch, fateful, foreshadow, adumbrate, prescient, all are in some ways similar to ominous, but my favorite word here is foreboding.
foreboding noun
fore·bod·ing | (ˌ)fȯr-ˈbō-diŋ
Definition of foreboding (Entry 1 of 2)
: the act of one who forebodes
also : an omen, prediction, or presentiment especially of coming evil : PORTENT
It seems that her forebodings were justified.
From Merriam-Webster
Words like apprehensive and anxious don't have the mystical, dire connotation that ominous has, and come off too clinical in this context.
answered yesterday
K Dog
26919
You need to provide a source for your definition. Hint: it's not "Google dictionary", it's Oxford Living Dictionaries that you need to credit.
– Laurel
yesterday
1
I like "foreboding" because it's on a scale -- one boding, two boding, three boding, foreboding, five boding, etc. Most monster movies never get above two boding, but stuff out of Washington gets to five, six, seven boding.
– Hot Licks
yesterday
add a comment |
up vote
-1
down vote
Suspenseful, eerie, eldritch, fateful, foreshadow, adumbrate, prescient, all are in some ways similar to ominous, but my favorite word here is foreboding.
foreboding noun
fore·bod·ing | (ˌ)fȯr-ˈbō-diŋ
Definition of foreboding (Entry 1 of 2)
: the act of one who forebodes
also : an omen, prediction, or presentiment especially of coming evil : PORTENT
It seems that her forebodings were justified.
From Merriam-Webster
Words like apprehensive and anxious don't have the mystical, dire connotation that ominous has, and come off too clinical in this context.
answered yesterday
K Dog
26919
You need to provide a source for your definition. Hint: it's not "Google dictionary", it's Oxford Living Dictionaries that you need to credit.
– Laurel
yesterday
1
I like "foreboding" because it's on a scale -- one boding, two boding, three boding, foreboding, five boding, etc. Most monster movies never get above two boding, but stuff out of Washington gets to five, six, seven boding.
– Hot Licks
yesterday
add a comment |
up vote
-1
down vote
up vote
-1
down vote
Suspenseful, eerie, eldritch, fateful, foreshadow, adumbrate, prescient, all are in some ways similar to ominous, but my favorite word here is foreboding.
foreboding noun
fore·bod·ing | (ˌ)fȯr-ˈbō-diŋ
Definition of foreboding (Entry 1 of 2)
: the act of one who forebodes
also : an omen, prediction, or presentiment especially of coming evil : PORTENT
It seems that her forebodings were justified.
From Merriam-Webster
Words like apprehensive and anxious don't have the mystical, dire connotation that ominous has, and come off too clinical in this context.
answered yesterday
K Dog
26919
Suspenseful, eerie, eldritch, fateful, foreshadow, adumbrate, prescient, all are in some ways similar to ominous, but my favorite word here is foreboding.
foreboding noun
fore·bod·ing | (ˌ)fȯr-ˈbō-diŋ
Definition of foreboding (Entry 1 of 2)
: the act of one who forebodes
also : an omen, prediction, or presentiment especially of coming evil : PORTENT
It seems that her forebodings were justified.
From Merriam-Webster
Words like apprehensive and anxious don't have the mystical, dire connotation that ominous has, and come off too clinical in this context.
answered yesterday
K Dog
26919
edited yesterday
answered yesterday
K Dog
26919
answered yesterday
K Dog
26919
answered yesterday
K Dog
26919
26919
You need to provide a source for your definition. Hint: it's not "Google dictionary", it's Oxford Living Dictionaries that you need to credit.
– Laurel
yesterday
1
I like "foreboding" because it's on a scale -- one boding, two boding, three boding, foreboding, five boding, etc. Most monster movies never get above two boding, but stuff out of Washington gets to five, six, seven boding.
– Hot Licks
yesterday
add a comment |
You need to provide a source for your definition. Hint: it's not "Google dictionary", it's Oxford Living Dictionaries that you need to credit.
– Laurel
yesterday
1
I like "foreboding" because it's on a scale -- one boding, two boding, three boding, foreboding, five boding, etc. Most monster movies never get above two boding, but stuff out of Washington gets to five, six, seven boding.
– Hot Licks
yesterday
You need to provide a source for your definition. Hint: it's not "Google dictionary", it's Oxford Living Dictionaries that you need to credit.
– Laurel
yesterday
You need to provide a source for your definition. Hint: it's not "Google dictionary", it's Oxford Living Dictionaries that you need to credit.
– Laurel
yesterday
1
1
I like "foreboding" because it's on a scale -- one boding, two boding, three boding, foreboding, five boding, etc. Most monster movies never get above two boding, but stuff out of Washington gets to five, six, seven boding.
– Hot Licks
yesterday
I like "foreboding" because it's on a scale -- one boding, two boding, three boding, foreboding, five boding, etc. Most monster movies never get above two boding, but stuff out of Washington gets to five, six, seven boding.
– Hot Licks
yesterday
add a comment |
up vote
-2
down vote
You're asking two different things in the title and body of this post.
Positive/negative connotation: There isn't a positive or negative connotation either way that I am aware, at least regarding the quality of the music, only that it evokes a specific feeling.
Alternative words: You could use foreboding, foreshadowing, or betokening as a synonym for "ominous".
answered yesterday
mRotten
30017
add a comment |
up vote
-2
down vote
You're asking two different things in the title and body of this post.
Positive/negative connotation: There isn't a positive or negative connotation either way that I am aware, at least regarding the quality of the music, only that it evokes a specific feeling.
Alternative words: You could use foreboding, foreshadowing, or betokening as a synonym for "ominous".
answered yesterday
mRotten
30017
add a comment |
up vote
-2
down vote
up vote
-2
down vote
You're asking two different things in the title and body of this post.
Positive/negative connotation: There isn't a positive or negative connotation either way that I am aware, at least regarding the quality of the music, only that it evokes a specific feeling.
Alternative words: You could use foreboding, foreshadowing, or betokening as a synonym for "ominous".
answered yesterday
mRotten
30017
You're asking two different things in the title and body of this post.
Positive/negative connotation: There isn't a positive or negative connotation either way that I am aware, at least regarding the quality of the music, only that it evokes a specific feeling.
Alternative words: You could use foreboding, foreshadowing, or betokening as a synonym for "ominous".
answered yesterday
mRotten
30017
edited yesterday
answered yesterday
mRotten
30017
answered yesterday
mRotten
30017
answered yesterday
mRotten
30017
30017
add a comment |
add a comment |
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4
Ominous music is what gets played when the director wants to give the impression that something bad might happen. but this is the standard dictionary definition.
– Jim
yesterday
as for positive, it might be a bit like "sticky" - you certainly want your packing tape to be sticky but a 'sticky situation' isn't a positive. ... but as Jim points out, describing music at being ~good at~ creating a bad impression - it might be a compliment to the composers abilities suggesting his creation was apt for the use ? (ok, if that is too abstract.. ignore this comment)
– Tom22
yesterday
2
Please edit to include some of the positive (or neutral) examples you've seen.
– Lawrence
yesterday
Google "ominous meaning" -- that will also bring up synonyms for you. Good Luck.
– Kris
21 hours ago