Showing results for "foreboding"

• present participle of forebode.

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In Old English, foreboding was associated with what?

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foreboding

American  

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

noun

• forebodings
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• forebodingness
  noun
• unforeboding
  adjective
• forebodingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• forebodings
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of foreboding

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

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Explanation

When you get a foreboding, you get a sense that something bad is going to happen. A foreboding is a foretelling, a sign or a glimpse, that "something wicked this way comes" — or might come. If something doesn’t "bode" well, it means that the future doesn't look good. A foreboding is a glimpse or a feeling that bad things are going to happen. It's a premonition, or look into the future. Most times foreboding implies that something evil is coming, but sometimes it's used for anything bad up ahead, as in "she had a foreboding that the trip would get canceled due to the hurricane." Even if the future looks bright, a foreboding casts dread over what's ahead.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

foreboding forebodings

He added that Anglesey fitted the brief: "It can be absolutely stunning but has a foreboding quality."

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

Since then, he feels a sense of foreboding whenever dark clouds signal the onset of another storm.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 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

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

Finally, with some foreboding because of her previous experience in Providence, she chose the latter alternative.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

And there are less apocalyptic forebodings as well: unstoppable AI-powered hackers, massive global AI misinformation campaigns, rampant unemployment as artificial intelligence takes our jobs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2023

All day, gray clouds clustered overhead, adding to forebodings, and ratifying forecasts of a gathering storm.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 8, 2022

Despite their forebodings, the referendum result shocked Irish officials.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 18, 2019

The French government is relieved that its worst forebodings about the protests did not come to pass.

From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2018

You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.

From "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley

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Related Words

• apprehension
• dread
• premonition

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