ENGLISH
REFERENCE

foreboding

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

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.

Synonyms
Origin

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

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