What does forbidding mean?

forbidding means "harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in forbidding?

forbidding has 3 syllables: for-bid-ding. The stress falls on "bid". In IPA it is /fɚˈbɪdɪŋ/.

What is another word for forbidding?

Close synonyms include dour, grim, baleful, menacing, minacious. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is forbidding a common word?

forbidding is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with forbidding?

1 word rhymes with forbidding. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.

forbidding — meaning, pronunciation and 3 definitions

adjective

2 sensesA word that describes or qualifies a noun.

1.
harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance
“a dour, self-sacrificing life”
“a forbidding scowl”
“a grim man loving duty more than humanity”
“undoubtedly the grimmest part of him was his iron claw”
Synonymsdour grim
Similarunpleasant
2.
threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
“a baleful look”
“forbidding thunderclouds”
“his tone became menacing”
“ominous rumblings of discontent”
“sinister storm clouds”
“a sinister smile”
“his threatening behavior”
“ugly black clouds”
“the situation became ugly”
Synonymsbaleful menacing minacious minatory ominous sinister threatening
Similaralarming

noun

1 senseA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
an official prohibition or edict against something
Synonymsban banning forbiddance
Broaderprohibition
Narrowertest ban

Other forms of forbidding

plural: forbiddings·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about forbidding

What does forbidding mean?: forbidding means "harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in forbidding?: forbidding has 3 syllables: for-bid-ding. The stress falls on "bid". In IPA it is /fɚˈbɪdɪŋ/.
What is another word for forbidding?: Close synonyms include dour, grim, baleful, menacing, minacious. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is forbidding a common word?: forbidding is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.
What rhymes with forbidding?: 1 word rhymes with forbidding. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.

Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for forbidding come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.

adjective

2 sensesA word that describes or qualifies a noun.

1.
harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance
“a dour, self-sacrificing life”
“a forbidding scowl”
“a grim man loving duty more than humanity”
“undoubtedly the grimmest part of him was his iron claw”
Synonymsdour grim
Similarunpleasant
2.
threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
“a baleful look”
“forbidding thunderclouds”
“his tone became menacing”
“ominous rumblings of discontent”
“sinister storm clouds”
“a sinister smile”
“his threatening behavior”
“ugly black clouds”
“the situation became ugly”
Synonymsbaleful menacing minacious minatory ominous sinister threatening
Similaralarming

noun

1 senseA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
an official prohibition or edict against something
Synonymsban banning forbiddance
Broaderprohibition
Narrowertest ban

Other forms of forbidding

plural: forbiddings·

Questions about forbidding

What does forbidding mean?: forbidding means "harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in forbidding?: forbidding has 3 syllables: for-bid-ding. The stress falls on "bid". In IPA it is /fɚˈbɪdɪŋ/.
What is another word for forbidding?: Close synonyms include dour, grim, baleful, menacing, minacious. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is forbidding a common word?: forbidding is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.
What rhymes with forbidding?: 1 word rhymes with forbidding. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.

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forbidding

adjective

noun

Other forms of forbidding

Questions about forbidding

Tools

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PDF & writing

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forbidding

adjective

noun

Other forms of forbidding

Questions about forbidding