forebode

verb

fore·​bode (ˌ)fȯr-ˈbōd 

variants or less commonly forbode

foreboded also forboded; foreboding also forboding; forebodes also forbodes

transitive verb

1

: to have an inward conviction of (something, such as a coming ill or misfortune)

… she looked eagerly in his face, not quick to forebode evil, but unavoidably conscious that the state of the family had changed …

—Nathaniel Hawthorne

2

: foretell, portend

Such dark clouds forebode a storm.

intransitive verb

: augur, predict

foreboder noun

Synonyms

• augur
• bode
• promise

Examples of forebode in a Sentence

the dry summer doesn't forebode well for the harvest

Recent Examples on the Web

Despite the difficulty, in some cases the stakes are so high—as with North Korea and its nuclear weapons—that armies will have no choice but to take the fight to what is often a vast, foreboding underworld. —Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 27 June 2023

There are foreboding close-ups on clock faces and their fast-changing digits. —Erica Gonzales, ELLE, 23 June 2023

That Wells Fargo win, in May at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C., had come against a foreboding list of rivals whose surnames — McIlroy and Spieth, Scott and Day — were bywords for golfing brilliance even before Clark finished college. —Alan Blinder, New York Times, 19 June 2023

Among the Ukrainian troops, their work on these proving grounds appears to amplify a sense of confidence, rather than foreboding. —Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 May 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1603, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Kids Definition

forebode

verb

fore·​bode

variants also forbode

fōr-ˈbōd,

fȯr-

1

: to have a feeling that something especially unfortunate is going to happen

2

: foretell, portend

the heavy air forebodes a storm

foreboder noun

foreboding

-ˈbōd-iŋ

noun

forebodingly

-iŋ-lē

adverb