English Reference
Noun

foreboding

n. uncountable
C1 Advanced US /fɔɹˈboʊdɪŋ/ UK /fˈɔːbəʊdɪŋ/ fore·bod·ing UK spelling forebodings

n.a feeling that something bad is going to happen. It is like a dark cloud in your mind that makes you worry about the future.

n.a feeling of expectation or prediction that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen. Often associated with a sense of dread or unease.


SIMPLE

A sense of foreboding hung over the room.

CONTEXTUAL

The dark, stormy sky gave the hikers a sense of foreboding before the heavy rain began.

COMPLEX

The protagonist's internal monologue is filled with a deep foreboding, as the author uses the approaching winter to mirror the character's growing fear of isolation.

Currell recalled waking up with a sense of foreboding, telling her father that she didn’t want to go to school that day.

Smithsonian Magazine· 20 Aug 2026

That guilt and vague foreboding must be even worse for teachers.

The Guardian· 11 Aug 2026

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

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Middle English forbodyng
Level C1 · Advanced
Frequency Occasional
Updated