forbidding means appearing to be threatening, unfriendly or potentially unpleasant. It carries an Arena rating of 1410, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, forbidding ranks #2,350 of 14,448 for Most Incisive Words, #2,678 of 14,410 for Most Ponderous Words, #3,855 of 14,322 for Scariest Words, #7,082 of 14,423 for Most Sublime Words.
forbidding is pronounced /fɚˈbɪdɪŋ/.
Why “forbidding” is a great word
Appearing threatening, unfriendly, or likely to be unpleasant, from the verb forbid (Old English forbēodan, 'to prohibit,' from for- 'against' + bēodan 'to command') with the present participle suffix -ing. Unlike "prohibitive," which speaks of financial or practical barriers, or "unwelcoming," which suggests mere chilliness, forbidding carries an active, atmospheric hostility. It is the dark facade of a house with no visible door, the sudden silence of a forest path, or the uniform grey of a distant, storm-wracked shore—the landscape itself issuing a silent, potent command: do not proceed.
Etymology
By surface analysis, forbid + -ing.
adj
- Appearing to be threatening, unfriendly or potentially unpleasant.“What cause, cry’d he, can justify our flight,
To tempt the dangers of forbidding night?”
noun
- The act by which something is forbidden; a prohibition.“But all these poor forbiddings could not stay him;”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.