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.
In Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s 1965 novel for young readers, a 12-year-old girl finds an enchanting refuge in a forbidding mansion.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
They worked to exclude religious schools anyway by forbidding participants from discriminating based on religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026
In 1980, justices struck down a law virtually identical to Texas’, forbidding states from placing the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.
From Slate • Apr. 23, 2026
He saw no signs forbidding parking where he pulled over, and the curb was not, by all appearances, painted red, he said.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026
Grandma had explained to us that by age six or eight, we would be separated by very strict lines forbidding us to ever speak to each other again, except if absolutely necessary.
From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals
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.
