foreboding

American  

[fawr-boh-ding, fohr-] / fɔrˈboʊ dɪŋ, foʊr- /

noun

1. a prediction; portent.

2. a strong inner feeling or notion of a future misfortune, evil, etc.; presentiment.

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adjective

1. that forebodes, especially evil.

foreboding British  

/ fɔːˈbəʊdɪŋ /

noun

1. a feeling of impending evil, disaster, etc

2. an omen or portent

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adjective

1. presaging something

Other Word Forms

• forebodingly adverb
• forebodingness noun
• unforeboding adjective

Etymology

Origin of foreboding

1350–1400; Middle English forbodyng (noun); forebode, -ing ¹, -ing ²

Example Sentences

But for locals, keeping the road open and in place remains the priority, even in the foreboding face of climate change.

From Los Angeles Times

And when the future was seen as foreboding, fairs did their best to pave a yellow-brick road.

From The Wall Street Journal

Then the timeline for star freshman Alijah Arenas’ return was pushed back indefinitely, another foreboding sign in a season filled with them.

From Los Angeles Times

It was a place I knew about and it just sounded like an interesting place for him to go that has some foreboding associations with it.

From Los Angeles Times

Wrestling strips life’s complications down to primal conflicts, and few wrestlers embodied this approach as famously, and forebodingly, as Hulk Hogan.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• apprehension
• dread
• premonition