as in ominous
being or showing a sign of evil or calamity to come
foreboding clouds began to gather
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in feel
a feeling that something bad will happen
I have this strange foreboding that your ski vacation will not turn out well, so be extra careful
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in portent
something believed to be a sign or warning of a future event
used to think that if he saw a blackbird fly over his left shoulder it was a foreboding of harm
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in dread
suspicion or fear of future harm or misfortune
a pessimist who is always overcome by a sense of foreboding before flying on an airplane
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
also forboding
as in promising
to show signs of a favorable or successful outcome
the dry summer doesn't forebode well for the harvest
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of foreboding
Joe Rexrode, The Athletic, 31 Dec. 2024
Ju Ji-Hoon stars as Jung Won-Young, the enigmatic owner of the titular light shop, located at the end of a foreboding dark alley.
—Ars Technica, 24 Dec. 2024
Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2024
Beginning in the 1990s, a revolution of personal, materialistic aspirations—an extension of the one that Alexis de Tocqueville had witnessed with much foreboding in the United States in the 1830s—swept the world.
—Pankaj Mishra, Foreign Affairs, 17 Oct. 2016
See all Example Sentences for foreboding 
Adjective
One play, strip, fumble and 100-yard return later, Steele’s head coaching career was off to a foreboding start.
—Joe Rexrode, The Athletic, 31 Dec. 2024
Ju Ji-Hoon stars as Jung Won-Young, the enigmatic owner of the titular light shop, located at the end of a foreboding dark alley.
—Ars Technica, 24 Dec. 2024
Noun
Equities near their all-time highs are doing nothing to ease BTIG’s sense of short-term foreboding.
—Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2024
Beginning in the 1990s, a revolution of personal, materialistic aspirations—an extension of the one that Alexis de Tocqueville had witnessed with much foreboding in the United States in the 1830s—swept the world.
—Pankaj Mishra, Foreign Affairs, 17 Oct. 2016
See all Example Sentences for foreboding
Recent Examples of Synonyms for foreboding
Adjective
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His bruises caught by the window’s light, his good side cast in ominous shadow, Martian’s focus shifts from the people on the other side of the glass to the man staring back at him in it.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
24 Jan. 2025
-
The second season of The Night Agent shows Peter on the other end of the line for that ominous White House basement phone.—
Emily Blackwood,
People.com,
23 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The metal casing adds a substantial feel, while their portable size is perfect for on-the-go use, easily slipping into a tote, duffle, or Dopp kit.—
Michael Stefanov,
Robb Report,
14 Jan. 2025
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The school is a hub of the community and big source of the small-town feel that made the Palisades feel like such a refuge from the hustle and bustle of the industry.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
13 Jan. 2025
Noun
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His removal makes our nation less secure and is a terrible portent for what's to come.—
Michael Gfoeller And David H. Rundell,
Newsweek,
16 Jan. 2025
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The series’ treading-water quality feels like a portent, one that warns us Hollywood’s prequel formula won’t ever dare to change.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
17 Nov. 2024
Noun
-
The image of crew member Frank Silva, spontaneously recruited to play the murderous demon Bob, at the foot of Laura’s bed instills an overwhelming sense of dread, even as a static screenshot.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
16 Jan. 2025
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The thought of returning to the beach filled her with dread.—
Lila Shapiro,
Vulture,
13 Jan. 2025
Verb
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As one manifestation of Carter’s commitment, his administration began to oppose loans from international financial institutions to rights-abusing governments, promising to provide financial support only after these countries demonstrated concrete improvements on human rights.—
Michael Posner,
Forbes,
6 Jan. 2025
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Was Knies’ promising rookie season not necessarily a sign of things to come?—
Joshua Kloke,
The Athletic,
5 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The Alaska story represents Perkins’ tireless brainstorming of ways to help and also, perhaps, her blind spot to a more sinister history of American settler colonialism.—
Sara Georgini,
Smithsonian Magazine,
21 Jan. 2025
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After Season 1 introduced viewers to the offbeat, sinister world of Lumon Industries, the Innies that make up its workforce, and the Outies compartmentalizing their lives, Season 2 is now unfolding deeper, stranger intricacies that speak to how corporations deal with dissenters.—
Harrison Richlin,
IndieWire,
19 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Growing up in tension, fearing a parent’s volatility, can leave a young person with painful but shrewd premonitions about possible danger and with acute impulses to protection.—
Mikal Gilmore,
Rolling Stone,
17 Jan. 2025
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That premonition rings true when his parents (Tara Buckman, Geoff Hansen) are slaughtered by a carjacker dressed as Old Saint Nick himself (Charles Dierkop) just hours later, condemning the toddler into further moral compass trauma at an orphanage run by a domineering Mother Superior nun from Hell.—
Huntley Woods,
EW.com,
19 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Punk and Emo, the forerunners of today’s worm-mollusks, lived on the dark seafloor amid gardens of sponges, nearly 200 million years before the first dinosaurs emerged on land.—
Kate Golembiewski,
New York Times,
8 Jan. 2025
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The company's North American forerunner, Chrysler, has been left for dead repeatedly over the decades, only to emerge with hit products like minivans in the 1980s and the Dodge Ram pickup in the 1990s.—
Joel Mathis,
theweek,
17 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near foreboding
Cite this Entry
“Foreboding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/foreboding. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
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