forbidding

adjective

for·​bid·​ding fər-ˈbi-diŋ 

fȯr-

1

: such as to make approach or passage difficult or impossible

forbidding walls

2

: disagreeable, repellent

a forbidding task

3

: grim, menacing

a dark forbidding sky

forbiddingly

fər-ˈbi-diŋ-lē 

fȯr-

adverb

Synonyms

• alarming
• dire
• direful
• dread
• dreadful
• fearful
• fearsome
• formidable
• frightening
• frightful
• ghastly
• hair-raising
• horrendous
• horrible
• horrifying
• intimidating
• redoubtable
• scary
• shocking
• spine-chilling
• terrible
• terrifying

Examples of forbidding in a Sentence

a harsh and forbidding landscape

a dark, forbidding house, that is reputed to be haunted

Recent Examples on the Web

This is music at once pristine and forbidding, redolent of the austere polyphony of the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance. —Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2024

The most forbidding child care markets in 2022 voted two years later for Trump by higher margins than the nation overall, but so did many of the areas where child care was more affordable. —Alexandra Byrne, NBC News, 24 Nov. 2024

Slowly, the color drains out of the image and the green frontier becomes a forbidding, black-and-white expanse. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 21 June 2024

For months, housing market conditions in a handful of battleground counties have been slightly less forbidding than in the U.S. overall, according to NBC News’ Home Buyer Index, which measures the relative difficulty of buying a home from one county to the next nationwide. —Shannon Pettypiece, NBC news, 22 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1599, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

forbidding

adjective

: tending to frighten or discourage

a dark forbidding sky

forbiddingly

-iŋ-lē 

adverb