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Synonyms

forbidding

American  
[fer-bid-ing, fawr-] / fərˈbɪd ɪŋ, fɔr- /

adjective

  1. grim; unfriendly; hostile; sinister.

    his forbidding countenance.

  2. dangerous; threatening.

    forbidding clouds; forbidding cliffs.
forbidding British  
/ fəˈbɪdɪŋ /

adjective

  1. hostile or unfriendly

  2. dangerous or ominous

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • forbiddingly adverb
  • forbiddingness noun
  • unforbidding adjective

Etymology

Origin of forbidding

First recorded in 1710–15; forbid + -ing 2

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.