Adjacent Words

Forbidding definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FORBID'DING, ppr.
1. Prohibiting; hindering.
2. a. Repelling approach; repulsive; raising abhorrence, aversion or dislike; disagreeable; as a forbidding aspect; a forbidding formality; a forbidding air.
FORBID'DING, n. Hindrance; opposition.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
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"- J.M.Barrie [syn: dour, forbidding, grim]
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" [syn: baleful, forbidding, menacing, minacious, minatory, ominous, sinister, threatening] n
1: an official prohibition or edict against something [syn: ban, banning, forbiddance, forbidding]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 1599 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 adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. uninviting, repellent, stern. Derivatives: forbiddingly adv.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Forbidding For*bid"ding, a. Repelling approach; repulsive; raising abhorrence, aversion, or dislike; disagreeable; prohibiting or interdicting; as, a forbidding aspect; a forbidding formality; a forbidding air. Syn: Disagreeable; unpleasant; displeasing; offensive; repulsive; odious; abhorrent. -- For*bid"ding*ly, adv. -- For*bid"ding*ness, n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Forbid For*bid", v. t. [imp. Forbade; p. p. Forbidden(Forbid, [Obs.]); p. pr. & vb. n. Forbidding.] [OE. forbeden, AS. forbe['o]dan; pref. for- + be['o]dan to bid; akin to D. verbieden, G. verbieten, Icel., fyrirbj[=o][eth]a, forbo[eth]a, Sw. f["o]rbjuda, Dan. forbyde. See Bid, v. t.] 1. To command against, or contrary to; to prohibit; to interdict. More than I have said . . . The leisure and enforcement of the time Forbids to dwell upon. --Shak. 2. To deny, exclude from, or warn off, by express command; to command not to enter. Have I not forbid her my house? --Shak. 3. To oppose, hinder, or prevent, as if by an effectual command; as, an impassable river forbids the approach of the army. A blaze of glory that forbids the sight. --Dryden. 4. To accurse; to blast. [Obs.] He shall live a man forbid. --Shak. 5. To defy; to challenge. [Obs.] --L. Andrews. Syn: To prohibit; interdict; hinder; preclude; withold; restrain; prevent. See Prohibit.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you describe a person, place, or thing as forbidding, you mean they have a severe, unfriendly, or threatening appearance. There was something a little severe and forbidding about her face. ...a huge, forbidding building. ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Repellent, repulsive, unpleasant, abhorrent, odious, disagreeable, unpleasant, offensive.

Moby Thesaurus

Olympian, abhorrent, abominable, aloof, awful, backward, bad, base, bashful, beastly, below contempt, beneath contempt, blank, chilled, chilly, cold, constrained, contemptible, cool, crude, dangerous, despicable, detached, deterrent, deterring, detestable, discouraging, discreet, disgusting, distant, dreadful, exclusive, execrable, expressionless, fetid, forestalling, foul, frightful, frigid, frosty, fulsome, ghastly, grisly, gross, gruesome, guarded, harsh, hateful, heinous, hideous, horrible, horrid, hostile, icy, ignoble, impassive, impersonal, inaccessible, inhibitive, inhibitory, interdictive, interdictory, introverted, loathsome, malodorous, menacing, mephitic, miasmal, miasmic, modest, nasty, nauseating, noisome, noxious, objectionable, obnoxious, obscene, odious, offensive, offish, ominous, preclusive, preventative, preventive, prohibiting, prohibitive, prohibitory, prophylactic, proscriptive, rebarbative, remote, removed, repellent, repelling, repressed, repressive, repugnant, repulsive, reserved, restrained, reticent, retiring, revolting, shrinking, sickening, standoff, standoffish, stern, stinking, subdued, suppressed, suppressive, terrible, threatening, ugly, unaffable, unapproachable, uncongenial, undemonstrative, unexpansive, unfriendly, ungenial, unpleasant, vile, withdrawn