1
as in terrifying
causing fear
a dark, forbidding house, that is reputed to be haunted
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2
as in intimidating
harsh and threatening in manner or appearance
told us in a forbidding voice to stop calling him by that name
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as in prohibiting
the act of ordering that something not be done or used
the landlord's forbidding of loud music after 10:00 p.m.
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as in banning
to order not to do or use or to be done or used
smoking is forbidden throughout the building we forbid you to see him
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of forbidding
Andrew Silow-Carroll, Sun Sentinel, 8 July 2025
The basic technology is complicated enough, but the subculture—with its own particular argot and decorum—is what’s truly forbidding.
—Will Gottsegen, The Atlantic, 10 June 2025
Susan Page, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
Literary Hub, 22 Oct. 2025
But when leaving the company, to keep their vested equity, they were reportedly required to sign an agreement that contained provisions eternally forbidding them from criticizing their former employer, and that prevented them from mentioning the agreement’s existence.
—Harry Booth, Time, 8 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for forbidding
Adjective
In her remarks during the recent tour of the facility, Department of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem appeared to acknowledge that the forbidding conditions were meant to frighten migrants into self-deporting.
—Andrew Silow-Carroll, Sun Sentinel, 8 July 2025
The basic technology is complicated enough, but the subculture—with its own particular argot and decorum—is what’s truly forbidding.
—Will Gottsegen, The Atlantic, 10 June 2025
Noun
But Cheney rarely tried to combat the image painted by critics and comedians of him as a dour partisan, dark and forbidding.
—Susan Page, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
Verb
Several stories account for the ominous name of the stark, forbidding mountains.
—Literary Hub, 22 Oct. 2025
But when leaving the company, to keep their vested equity, they were reportedly required to sign an agreement that contained provisions eternally forbidding them from criticizing their former employer, and that prevented them from mentioning the agreement’s existence.
—Harry Booth, Time, 8 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for forbidding
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forbidding
Adjective
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But a computer sensor wasn’t needed to confirm his terrifying speed.—
Tom Krasovic,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Nov. 2025
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Desperate to prove his mettle, Dek seeks out a terrifying creature of Yautja lore, determined to be the first of his kind to slay it.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Rutgers, meanwhile, has lost three in a row and now faces the unenviable task of attempting to strip down one of the most intimidating offenses in the nation.—
Ben Verbrugge,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Oct. 2025
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Technology is as straightforward and as non-intimidating as any EV.—
James Raia,
Mercury News,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
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State law limits how California’s 256 public cemetery districts can make money, prohibiting them from selling memorial markers or mausoleums and offering mortuary or cremation services.—
Daniel Lempres,
Sacbee.com,
23 Oct. 2025
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Roseville Police Chief Mitch Berlin said the incident may expedite security enhancements that have been planned for the parking lot, including prohibiting parking next to the station.—
Christina Hall,
Freep.com,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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But the trailer also offers a glimpse a frightening car crash that derails their career and life plans.—
Tomás Mier,
Rolling Stone,
4 Nov. 2025
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There were no spooky increases at the pumps or frightening fuel costs this Halloween.—
Washington Examiner Staff,
The Washington Examiner,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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But encounters with the island’s residents, including with his gruff but warm-hearted landlady (played by German screen legend Hanna Schygulla), gradually alter his outlook.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
20 Oct. 2025
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Panday plays a convincingly gruff tortured artist alongside Padda’s struggling ingenue, and most of the screen time is devoted to their pairing instead of introducing tertiary excess.—
Proma Khosla,
IndieWire,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Like with the ozone hole, this worry must be catalyzed into civic engagement, building a global movement that works with governments to make a prohibition on superintelligence a reality.—
Andrea Miotti,
Time,
29 Oct. 2025
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The prohibition means losing revenue at a time when the agency is grappling with financial constraints.—
Bruce Finley,
Denver Post,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
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More than a dozen of this year’s participants were aged 30 or above, after Miss USA lifted longstanding rules in 2024 banning women aged over 28 (as well as married women and mothers) from entering.—
Oscar Holland,
CNN Money,
25 Oct. 2025
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Bovino was accused of throwing at least one tear gas canister into a crowd of protesters the following day in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, per CNN, potentially violating a judge’s temporary restraining order banning the use of such tactics in the city.—
Dan Gooding,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Mesidor has formed a formidable one-two punch on the Hurricanes’ defensive line with Rueben Bain Jr.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
25 Oct. 2025
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Jazz In recent years, the pianist Vijay Iyer and the drummer Tyshawn Sorey, defining composers and leaders of contemporary jazz, have become one of its most formidable pairings.—
Hilton Als,
New Yorker,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Forbidding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forbidding. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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