figurative. Threatening, terrifying, or strongly impressive utterance; awful denunciation, menace, censure, or invective, ‘fulmination’; vehement or…

Formal pronouncement of an (originally pontifical or ecclesiastical) condemnation or censure; an instance of this. Hence: a violent denunciation…

figurative. Something very destructive, terrible, or startling; esp. an awful denunciation, censure, or threat proceeding from a high authority…

figurative. Vehement threatening, invective, or the like (see thunder, v. 3): = thunder, n. 3.

= thunder-clap, n. figurative. Obsolete.

figurative. A sudden startling or terrifying occurrence, act, utterance, or piece of news. (Cf. thunderbolt, n. 2.)

A stroke of ‘thunder’. Also figurative.