forbidding

adjective

for·bid·ding | \ fər-ˈbi-diŋ

, fȯr-\

Definition of forbidding

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

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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

Despite such forbidding conditions, a few brave souls, aided by a handful of secret agents dispatched from London, helped kick-start the French Resistance. — Sonia Purnell, Twin Cities, "Sonia Purnell: What D-Day teaches us about the difficulty – and importance – of resistance," 6 June 2019 Nearly all wild horses live in the Great Basin of Nevada and surrounding states, in some of the most forbidding land in America. — New York Times, "Let Mountain Lions Eat Horses," 12 May 2018 But Democratic candidates in special elections for vacant House seats in more forbidding territory — including Arizona, southwestern Pennsylvania and South Carolina — have performed strongly since President Trump’s inauguration. — New York Times, "An Ohio Special Election Shapes Up as a Big Test of the ‘Blue Wave’," 9 May 2018 Toughest to realize is Lear himself, who, along with Hamlet, remains one of Shakespeare’s most forbidding creations. — David Yezzi, WSJ, "‘Lear: The Great Image of Authority’ Review: A Master Class in Tragedy," 20 Apr. 2018 Rollin’s depiction of the area is stark and forbidding, though his depiction of the lovers is natural and charming. — Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader, "Film / Foreign / Paranormal Discover the erotic, macabre world of French director Jean Rollin," 1 Mar. 2018 All of these stately and forbidding pictures are intensified by Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch’s groaning, grinding score, a nod to the pulsating, synth-heavy Vangelis original with the volume turned way up. — Richard Lawson, vanityfair.com, "Blade Runner 2049 Review: Jaw-Dropping Style but Too Little Substance," 3 Oct. 2017 What Is To Be Done? was an exhortation to his party that this could still be done, even under the forbidding police-state conditions in Russia—that the workers were ready to play their historical role if there was someone willing to organize them. — David Sessions, New Republic, "The Radical Hopes of the Russian Revolution," 20 Sep. 2017 David’s memories turn out to be a uniquely forbidding place full of dark patches and impassible zones of a kind neither Ptonomy nor Melanie have ever seen before. — Sam Adams, Slate Magazine, "FX’s attempt to reinvent the superhero genre is a show with a Rubik’s Cube where its heart should be.," 8 Feb. 2017

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