forebode
Americanverb (used with object)
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forebodes,
present (3rd person singular)
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foreboded,
past participle, past
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foreboding
present participle
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to foretell or predict; be an omen of; indicate beforehand; portend.
clouds that forebode a storm.
- Synonyms:
- augur, forecast, presage, foreshadow
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to have a strong inner feeling or notion of (a future misfortune, evil, catastrophe, etc.); have a presentiment of.
verb (used without object)
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forebodes,
present (3rd person singular)
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foreboded,
past participle, past
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foreboding
present participle
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to prophesy.
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to have a presentiment.
verb
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to warn of or indicate (an event, result, etc) in advance
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to have an intuition or premonition of (an event)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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forebodesimple
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forebodessimple
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have forebodedperfect
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has forebodedperfect
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am forebodingprogressive
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are forebodingprogressive
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is forebodingprogressive
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have been forebodingperfect progressive
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has been forebodingperfect progressive
Past
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forebodedsimple
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had forebodedperfect
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was forebodingprogressive
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were forebodingprogressive
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had been forebodingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of forebode
Vocabulary lists containing forebode
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.
See Examples For:
During the present year the Irish newspapers reported the discovery of the apparition of a black pig in the district of Kiltrustan… which caused much alarm, and was supposed to forebode some serious national disaster.
From Nature ● Dec. 17, 2018
Whether I shall ever be better I can not tell; I awfully forebode I shall not.
From Time Magazine Archive
The leading company rode off as swiftly as they could, for it was still deep dark, whatever change Wídfara might forebode.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
The police, whenever my mother forebode, would indeed come, and many of the men of the yard would be caught napping, surrendering themselves with lamblike submission.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
People forebode quite sufficient evil for themselves, and seek a conjuror for comfort, not for aggravation of their uneasiness.
From Trevethlan: (Vol 2 of 3) A Cornish Story. by William Davy Watson
It’s 1833 in Friel’s fictional small town, Ballybeg, where a sweet, putrid smell rising from the potato fields forebodes famine and an ingress of redcoats threatens to blight the local heritage.
From New York Times ● Dec. 11, 2023
A Game 7 loss at home for the fourth season in a row — 2-1 to the Nashville Predators in the first round Wednesday — forebodes consequences potentially more severe than previous years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2016
‘You have chosen the Evening; but my love is given to the Morning. And my heart forebodes that soon it will pass away for ever.’
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
She who forebodes danger where no danger is but paves the way to her own destruction.”
From The Sun Maid A Story of Fort Dearborn by Evelyn Raymond
I once knew a maiden aunt, of a great family, who is one of these antiquated sybils, that forebodes and prophesies from one end of the year to the other.
From Apparitions; or, The Mystery of Ghosts, Hobgoblins, and Haunted Houses Developed by Joseph Taylor
But it is foreboded that that will only be when we have both lost all that we now have.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
The sky was utterly dark, and the stillness of the heavy air foreboded storm.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
His coming back so soon foreboded ill news; he would hardly have returned at such inclement season, but to warn us.
From Donald McElroy, Scotch Irishman by Willie Walker Caldwell
His friends warned him that these continual insults and depredations foreboded mischief, and that he ought not to submit to them.
From The Freedmen's Book by Lydia Maria Francis Child
His heart, I ween, foreboded the deed that had been done, And that the childless father no more should see his son.
From The Nibelungenlied Revised Edition by Unknown
Jenkin has suggested his latest is a commentary on sacrifice and community, but any concrete theory of “Rose of Nevada” risks allowing his enigmatic puzzle to lose its shattering spell of mystery and foreboding.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
But a 0.1-percent dip in food services sales could reflect that people are opting to drive less -- a foreboding sign for broader spending in the services sector.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
"I had that foreboding of what life was going to be, and I was getting pretty good on the guitar, so I sold my birthday presents to raise the money to go to Sweden."
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
Under the skylight of a 10-foot industrial ceiling is a cold, foreboding blacksmith’s forge — which, on an active day, would heat up to 2,500 degrees — surrounded by uncut, conical metal templates awaiting manipulation.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
Moody raised his wand, and Harry felt a sudden thrill of foreboding.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
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