[syn: baleful, forbidding, menacing, minacious, minatory, ominous, sinister, threatening]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Forbid \For*bid"\ (f[o^]r*b[i^]d"), v. t. [imp. Forbade
(f[o^]r*b[a^]d"); p. p. Forbidden (f[o^]r*b[i^]d"d'n)
(Forbid, [Obs.]); p. pr. & vb. n. Forbidding
(f[o^]r*b[i^]d"d[i^]ng).] [OE. forbeden, AS. forbe['o]dan;
pref. for- + be['o]dan to bid; akin to D. verbieden, G.
verbieten, Icel. fyrirbj[=o][eth]a, forbo[eth]a, Sw.
f["o]rbjuda, Dan. forbyde. See Bid, v. t.]
1. To command against, or contrary to; to prohibit; to
interdict.
[1913 Webster]
More than I have said . . .
The leisure and enforcement of the time
Forbids to dwell upon. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. To deny, exclude from, or warn off, by express command; to
command not to enter.
[1913 Webster]
Have I not forbid her my house? --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. To oppose, hinder, or prevent, as if by an effectual
command; as, an impassable river forbids the approach of
the army.
[1913 Webster]
A blaze of glory that forbids the sight. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
4. To accurse; to blast. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
He shall live a man forbid. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
5. To defy; to challenge. [Obs.] --L. Andrews.
Syn: To prohibit; interdict; hinder; preclude; withhold;
restrain; prevent. See Prohibit.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Forbidding \For*bid"ding\, a.
Repelling approach; repulsive; raising abhorrence, aversion,
or dislike; disagreeable; prohibiting or interdicting; as, a
forbidding aspect; a forbidding formality; a forbidding air.
Syn: Disagreeable; unpleasant; displeasing; offensive;
repulsive; odious; abhorrent. -- For*bid"ding*ly, adv.
-- For*bid"ding*ness, n.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
forbidding
adj 1: harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance;
"a dour, self-sacrificing life"; "a forbidding scowl"; "a
grim man loving duty more than humanity"; "undoubtedly
the grimmest part of him was his iron claw"- J.M.Barrie
[syn: dour, forbidding, grim]
2: threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments; "a
baleful look"; "forbidding thunderclouds"; "his tone became
menacing"; "ominous rumblings of discontent"; "sinister storm
clouds"; "a sinister smile"; "his threatening behavior";
"ugly black clouds"; "the situation became ugly" [syn:
baleful, forbidding, menacing, minacious, minatory,
ominous, sinister, threatening]
n 1: an official prohibition or edict against something [syn:
ban, banning, forbiddance, forbidding]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
125 Moby Thesaurus words for "forbidding":
Olympian, abhorrent, abominable, aloof, awful, backward, bad, base,
bashful, beastly, below contempt, beneath contempt, blank, chilled,
chilly, cold, constrained, contemptible, cool, crude, dangerous,
despicable, detached, deterrent, deterring, detestable,
discouraging, discreet, disgusting, distant, dreadful, exclusive,
execrable, expressionless, fetid, forestalling, foul, frightful,
frigid, frosty, fulsome, ghastly, grisly, gross, gruesome, guarded,
harsh, hateful, heinous, hideous, horrible, horrid, hostile, icy,
ignoble, impassive, impersonal, inaccessible, inhibitive,
inhibitory, interdictive, interdictory, introverted, loathsome,
malodorous, menacing, mephitic, miasmal, miasmic, modest, nasty,
nauseating, noisome, noxious, objectionable, obnoxious, obscene,
odious, offensive, offish, ominous, preclusive, preventative,
preventive, prohibiting, prohibitive, prohibitory, prophylactic,
proscriptive, rebarbative, remote, removed, repellent, repelling,
repressed, repressive, repugnant, repulsive, reserved, restrained,
reticent, retiring, revolting, shrinking, sickening, standoff,
standoffish, stern, stinking, subdued, suppressed, suppressive,
terrible, threatening, ugly, unaffable, unapproachable,
uncongenial, undemonstrative, unexpansive, unfriendly, ungenial,
unpleasant, vile, withdrawn