Meaning & use

foreboding

noun·Advanced

A strong feeling that something bad or unpleasant is about to happen.

See it in a sentence

A sense of foreboding settled over the crew as the storm clouds gathered.

She ignored her sense of foreboding and boarded the flight anyway.

A note on using this word

Foreboding can also function as an adjective describing something that seems to warn of trouble, as in "a foreboding silence filled the house."

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

Another way to use it

2. adjective

Suggesting that something bad is about to happen; ominous.

The foreboding sky turned a deep shade of green before the tornado hit.

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