Dictionary

foreboding en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /fɔɹˈbɔʊdɪŋ/ (US)

Etymology

From Middle English forbodyng, vorboding, equivalent to fore- + bode + -ing. Compare German Vorbote (“harbinger, omen”).

Meanings

1. Of ominous significance; serving as an ill omen; foretelling of harm or difficulty.
   • Blood on the street / Foreboding god complex / She never knew she was next 2018, “Blood on the Street”, performed by Soulfly:

Forms

Deriveds

forebodingly · forebodingness · unforeboding

Synonyms

star-crossed · ominous · portentous · bodeful · ill-omened · nefastous · presagious · sullen · inauspicious · prodigious · dire · portentous · omenic · ill-fated · ill-starred · inauspicious · ill-boding · presageful · baleful · fatal · boding · augurous · sinister · brooding · inauspicate · divine · disastrous · foreboding

foreboding en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /fɔɹˈbɔʊdɪŋ/ (US)

Etymology

From Middle English forbodyng, vorboding, equivalent to fore- + bode + -ing. Compare German Vorbote (“harbinger, omen”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A sense of evil to come.
   • To me there is something sad in his life, and sometimes I have a sort of foreboding about him. I don't know why, but I fancy he will have some great trouble—perhaps an unhappy end. 1876 November, Henry James, Jr., chapter XIII, in The American, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, […], published 5 May 1877, →OCLC, page 229:
   • A sense of foreboding, the like of which he had never known before, hung heavily on him. 1956, Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars, page 41:
   • I feel a slight foreboding about going home this year. 1976 December 25, John Atteridg, “Going Home for the Holidays”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 26, page 18:
2. (countable, uncountable) An evil omen.

Forms

Synonyms

preboding · augury

Translations (51)

fi paha aavistus (sense of evil to come) · fr mauvais présage (sense of evil to come) · de bange Ahnung (evil omen) · nl slecht voorgevoel (sense of evil to come) · fr mauvais pressentiment (sense of evil to come) · es mal presentimiento (sense of evil to come) · ru предве́стник беды́ (evil omen) · ca presagi (sense of evil to come) · mk ко́ба (evil omen) · bg поличба (evil omen) · mk ја́нѕа (sense of evil to come) · ru плоха́я приме́та (evil omen) · mk про́коба (sense of evil to come) · ca pressentiment (sense of evil to come) · mi kōtua (evil omen) · ka ცუდი წინათგრძნობა (sense of evil to come) · ru дурно́е предчу́вствие (sense of evil to come) · tr kötü his (evil omen) · tr malum olma (sense of evil to come) · ka წინათგრძნობა (sense of evil to come) · tr önsezi (sense of evil to come) · ru зна́мение (evil omen) · pt mau pressentimento (sense of evil to come) · ru предзнаменова́ние (evil omen) · ro presentiment rău (sense of evil to come) · oc marrida pressentida (sense of evil to come) · ro presimțire rea (sense of evil to come) · de Ahnung (sense of evil to come) · fi paha enne (evil omen) · cs zlá předtucha (sense of evil to come) · ka ცუდის მომასწავებელი ნიშანი (sense of evil to come) · mk пре́тчувство (sense of evil to come) · de Vorahnung (sense of evil to come) · ro piază (evil omen) · mi aroākapa (evil omen) · it malaugurio (evil omen) · sh predskazanje (evil omen) · la praesāgium (sense of evil to come) · bg проко́ба (sense of evil to come) · oc fumada (sense of evil to come) · ru предчу́вствие (sense of evil to come) · sh zla slutnja (sense of evil to come) · mi aituā (evil omen) · tr sezi (sense of evil to come) · tr içine doğma (evil omen) · ka ცუდის მომასწავებელი (sense of evil to come) · sh predznak zla (evil omen) · pt mau agouro (evil omen) · it brutto presentimento (sense of evil to come) · mi parangēki (sense of evil to come) · oc marrit pressentiment (sense of evil to come)

foreboding en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /fɔɹˈbɔʊdɪŋ/ (US)

Etymology

From Middle English forbodyng, vorboding, equivalent to fore- + bode + -ing. Compare German Vorbote (“harbinger, omen”).

Meanings

1. (form-of, gerund, participle, present) present participle and gerund of forebode
   form of forebode

Forms