forbidding

UK/fəˈbɪdɪŋ/US/fɚˈbɪdɪŋ/

adjectiveB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #11,298 of 15,258leans written

Forbidding means looking hostile and unwelcoming. A forbidding cliff, a forbidding expression, forbidding grey walls.

It describes the impression a thing gives rather than what it does, so a forbidding house may be perfectly comfortable inside. Landscapes and faces take it most often. Note that forbidding is also the plain participle of forbid, which is a different word doing a different job.

Definitions of forbidding

1adjectiveforbiddingLooking hostile and unwelcoming.B2+
“The castle looked dark and forbidding against the stormy sky.”

forbidding is a quality of appearance.

Where it comes from

Proto-Indo-European
*bʰewdʰ-
Proto-Germanic
*furibeudaną
Old English
forbēodan — to forbid, prohibit, restrain, refuse, repeal, annul
Middle English
forbeden
English
forbid
English, today
forbidding

by surface analysis, forbid + -ing. forbid comes from Middle English forbeden, from Old English forbēodan (“to forbid, prohibit, restrain, refuse, repeal, annul”), from Proto-Germanic furibeudaną, from furi + beudaną. Equivalent to for + bid. Cognate with Dutch verbieden (“to forbid”), German verbieten (“to forbid”), Danish forbyde (“to forbid”), Norwegian Bokmål forby (“to forbid”), Swedish förbjuda (“to forbid”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌱𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽. Related to forbode.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

forbidding in the wild

In the tale, an unnamed narrator relates the story of how a law forbidding the killing of cats came to be in a town called Ulthar.
The Cats of Ulthar
Upon witnessing the result, the local politicians pass a law forbidding the killing of cats.
The Cats of Ulthar
Enjoining good and forbidding wrong are two important duties imposed by God in Islam according to the Quran and Hadith.
Enjoining good and forbidding wrong
The defending champions, British Police didn't take part in this season following an order by the High Commissioner forbidding British teams to play Jewish teams.
1933–34 Palestine League
The practice of photography in Korea was delayed until the late 19th century, because of the Joseon Dynasty's policy forbidding contact with foreigners.
Photography in Korea

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

Related words

the forbēodan family

forbid

forbidding — used about once every 8,568 pages · #11,298 · point at the bar for the others

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