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1. Harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance
   "a forbidding scowl"
   - dour, grim
    
2. Threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
   "forbidding thunderclouds"
   - baleful, menacing, minacious, minatory, ominous, sinister, threatening

1. An official prohibition or edict against something
   - ban, banning, forbiddance

1. Command against
   "I forbid you to call me late at night"
   - prohibit, interdict, proscribe, veto, disallow, nix [N. Amer]
    
2. Keep from happening or arising; make impossible
   "My sense of tact forbids an honest answer"
   - prevent, forestall, foreclose, preclude

Derived forms: forbiddings

See also: alarming, forbiddance, forbiddingly, unpleasant

Type of: command, prohibition, require

Antonym: permit

Encyclopedia: Forbid