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
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
His prose is equally forbidding—dense and abstract, in the long tradition of German philosophy.
—
Adam Kirsch, The Atlantic, 3 May 2026
Meanwhile, the windswept moors feel like something out of a classic thriller, forbidding and alluring at once.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 16 Feb. 2026
Al enthusiastically pointed out 14th-century Doune Castle, a forbidding pile of stones that today is less known as a royal retreat for Mary, Queen of Scots, and Bonnie Prince Charlie than as a popular movie and TV setting.
—Patti Nickell, Boston Herald, 15 Feb. 2026
Reams of barbed wire gathered from the fields around Penpont were fashioned into a mesh curtain whose ends wrapped around two columns at the top of the museum’s grand staircase; the result was both alluring and forbidding.
—Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for forbidding
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Adam Kirsch, The Atlantic, 3 May 2026
Meanwhile, the windswept moors feel like something out of a classic thriller, forbidding and alluring at once.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 16 Feb. 2026
Al enthusiastically pointed out 14th-century Doune Castle, a forbidding pile of stones that today is less known as a royal retreat for Mary, Queen of Scots, and Bonnie Prince Charlie than as a popular movie and TV setting.
—Patti Nickell, Boston Herald, 15 Feb. 2026
Reams of barbed wire gathered from the fields around Penpont were fashioned into a mesh curtain whose ends wrapped around two columns at the top of the museum’s grand staircase; the result was both alluring and forbidding.
—Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for forbidding
Cite this Entry
“Forbidding.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forbidding. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
forbidding
adjective
: tending to frighten or discourage
a dark forbidding sky
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