Master confusing words with ease
Forbidding vs. Foreboding
Forbidding
/fəˈbɪdɪŋ/Examples:
The dark clouds were forbidding an upcoming storm.Her expression was forbidding, deterring any intruders.The castle's forbidding exterior hid a warm welcome inside.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Foreboding
/fɔːˈbəʊdɪŋ/Examples:
The eerie silence gave him a sense of foreboding.Her dream left her with a lingering foreboding.Dark clouds loomed with a sense of foreboding.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Ways to tell them apart:
- Forbidding means something that seems threatening or unfriendly, such as a scary thunderstorm or a stern face.
- Remember forbidding with the idea of a forbidden area being scary or dangerous, although the words have different roots.
- Foreboding refers to a prediction or feeling that something bad is going to happen, like sensing that a storm is coming.
- Think of foreboding as a fore-warning of something ominous, connecting it to intuitive feelings.
- For spelling, forbidding has double d, just as scaring has double r, while foreboding has e after r, forecasting something to come.
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