as in ominous
being or showing a sign of evil or calamity to come
foreboding clouds began to gather
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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
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Recent Examples of foreboding
Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 24 Jan. 2025
What began as an ordinary day suddenly turned with a phone call from an unknown number, triggering a foreboding sense of something deeply wrong.
—Sonal Nain, Newsweek, 19 Jan. 2025
Kayla Aletha Welch, Longreads, 19 Nov. 2024
In his images of the World Trade Center, the passage of time has once again added to his foreboding.
—Benjamin Moser, The New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for foreboding 
Adjective
An ember doesn’t choose its path based on property value or paparazzi presence, and when one part of Los Angeles burns, foreboding smoke hangs over the whole metro area.
—Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 24 Jan. 2025
What began as an ordinary day suddenly turned with a phone call from an unknown number, triggering a foreboding sense of something deeply wrong.
—Sonal Nain, Newsweek, 19 Jan. 2025
Noun
His aunts offered us tortillas to warm our hands while his uncle expressed dark forebodings about our chances of success.
—Kayla Aletha Welch, Longreads, 19 Nov. 2024
In his images of the World Trade Center, the passage of time has once again added to his foreboding.
—Benjamin Moser, The New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for foreboding
Recent Examples of Synonyms for foreboding
Adjective
-
There’s the ominous sense that the monkeys lurking around the resort might just be the same ones wielding swords in the frescoes.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
16 Feb. 2025
-
Those recall notices referred to a permanent solution without specifying what that might be—something that could be read as ominous or hopeful.—
Eric Bangeman,
Ars Technica,
14 Feb. 2025
Noun
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This is a place to check one’s personal life at the door, and the occasional intrusions from outside feel forced.—
Inkoo Kang,
The New Yorker,
8 Feb. 2025
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Several of the other bedrooms also have skylights and views of the grounds, as well as spacious closets and private bathrooms finished with rare stones and custom metalwork that give each their own subtle feel.—
Emma Reynolds,
Robb Report,
8 Feb. 2025
Noun
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But coming in at a brisk 89-minute runtime, the feature is awkwardly compressed in its portrait of heartache and easily overwhelmed by the political portent of its subject.—
J. Kim Murphy,
Variety,
24 Jan. 2025
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The Dead Zone maintains key big-picture threads from the book and movie — the malevolent rising-star politician, the apocalyptic portent — while taking advantage of its format, succeeding as both a procedural and a long-term story.—
Chris Snellgrove,
EW.com,
22 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
The plans put in place to find a positive way forward included the following: The Merrillville Advantage: A proactive approach of sharing the many positive attributes that a diverse student body could bring to the community instead of having an atmosphere of fear or dread.—
Dr. Tony Lux,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Feb. 2025
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However, throngs of people wading into the Ganga often stoked the dread of infection and disease.—
Sudipta Sen,
The Conversation,
5 Feb. 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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Her decision to give her baby up for adoption exposes the sinister dealings of Dagmar Overbye (Trine Dyrholm), the female Danish serial killer whose true-life murder of dozens of children in the 1910s inspired the film.—
Brande Victorian,
The Hollywood Reporter,
13 Feb. 2025
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The instrumental is decidedly sinister, and his vocals sound eerily similar to Michael’s.—
Matthew Ismael Ruiz,
Vulture,
12 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The movie’s terrifying dénouement emerges in another seven-minute shot, in which hints and premonitions are transformed into passions and horrors and in which landscape—and, as per the title, a seascape—appear not simply as backdrops but as dramatic and intellectual engines of the story.—
Richard Brody,
The New Yorker,
5 Feb. 2025
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Final Destination 5 begins with Sam Lawton (Nicholas D'Agosto) saving his co-worker's lives (and ruining their work retreat) after having a premonition about a bridge collapse.—
Randall Colburn,
EW.com,
4 Feb. 2025
Noun
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While Cal State Fullerton isn’t the first campus to launch a Project Rebound program, the university has been among the forerunners in its expansion, becoming a model for Project Rebound programs at the other universities in the CSU system.—
Lou Ponsi,
Orange County Register,
28 Jan. 2025
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Each night, Americans were reminded of the crisis on TV, as ABC created nightly reports called America Held Hostage with Ted Koppel, the forerunner to Nightline.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
29 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near foreboding
Cite this Entry
“Foreboding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/foreboding. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
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