forbidding
Americanadjective
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grim; unfriendly; hostile; sinister.
his forbidding countenance.
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dangerous; threatening.
forbidding clouds; forbidding cliffs.
adjective
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hostile or unfriendly
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dangerous or ominous
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of forbidding
Explanation
Anything that's forbidding is a little menacing, daunting, or even frightening. It's hard enough starting at a new school, much less one in a huge, grim, forbidding building. Things that loom high above you, dark and cold, are often described with this adjective. Think of the forbidding trees lining a spooky path at night, or your stern, forbidding math teacher, silently frowning down at the class with his arms crossed. Forbidding comes from forbid, "refuse to allow," and its Old English root meaning "command against."
Vocabulary lists containing forbidding
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Forbidding armoured vehicles appeared on high alert, one of them flying the banner of the Islamic republic.
From Barron's • Mar. 7, 2026
Forbidding these investors from renting out homes might expand the supply of for-sale properties by a 1-2%, economist Joseph Gyourko estimated in a recent Brookings analysis.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026
Forbidding someone the release that art affords can be crippling.
From The New Yorker • Feb. 25, 2016
Forbidding players to play through concussions reflects new N.F.L. protocols regarding head injuries, which in real life bring considerable short- and long-term health risks, and among teenagers occasionally death.
From New York Times • Apr. 2, 2011
Forbidding signs had gone up over the doors of shell houses.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
