forbidding

adjective

for·​bid·​ding fər-ˈbi-diŋ 

fȯr-

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

fər-ˈbi-diŋ-lē 

fȯr-

adverb

Synonyms

• alarming
• dire
• direful
• dread
• dreadful
• fearful
• fearsome
• formidable
• frightening
• frightful
• ghastly
• hair-raising
• horrendous
• horrible
• horrifying
• intimidating
• redoubtable
• scary
• shocking
• spine-chilling
• terrible
• terrifying

Examples of forbidding in a Sentence

a harsh and forbidding landscape

a dark, forbidding house, that is reputed to be haunted

Recent Examples on the Web

Law’s language remains opaque, its institutions foreign and forbidding, and its cost an insurmountable barrier for most to engage counsel when it is desperately needed. —Mark A. Cohen, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025

Each shot looks like a page out of a cursed tome of twisted, postmodern fairy tales, the images forbidding and slightly abstract. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2025

For one, Ali worries about his ill mother’s safety living with his forbidding and absent father, Hamit (Ercan Kesal). —Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 25 Jan. 2025

This bold mission to one of the world's most forbidding regions involved sending a small fleet of instrument-laden planes, including a NASA C-130 and a P-3 Orion, to dart through Arctic clouds and drop buoys into gaps in iceberg-laden waters below. —Tom Brown, Space.com, 16 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1599, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for forbidding

• bidding
• kidding
• ridding
• skidding

Kids Definition

forbidding

adjective

: tending to frighten or discourage

a dark forbidding sky

forbiddingly

-iŋ-lē 

adverb