foreboding

C2+ Topic:Emotions & Feelings

US /fɔrˈboʊdɪŋ/ UK /fɔːˈbəʊdɪŋ/ See IPA manual

noun adj

Meanings

1

noun
a feeling that something bad is about to happen

A sense of foreboding crept over her as the storm clouds gathered.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a feeling that something... premonition apprehension misgiving dread presentiment anxiety portent omen

Opposites

reassurance confidence optimism calm

Word family

Forms forebodinglyforebodings

Derived forms forebodingly

Related forms forebodebode fore

Etymology

From forebode (fore- 'before' plus bode, from Old English bodian 'to announce, foretell') plus -ing. The base bodian derives from boda ('messenger').

fore Old English bodian Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Emotions & Feelings Word Formation & Derivatives

# foreboding

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** fɔrˈboʊdɪŋ
**IPA (UK):** fɔːˈbəʊdɪŋ

## Meanings
1. a feeling that something bad is about to happen

## Examples
- A sense of foreboding crept over her as the storm clouds gathered.

## Synonyms
- premonition
- apprehension
- misgiving
- dread
- presentiment
- anxiety
- portent
- omen

## Antonyms
- reassurance
- confidence
- optimism
- calm

## Derived Forms
- forebodingly

## Related Forms
- forebode
- bode
- fore

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: fore
- Root: bodian

## Etymology
From forebode (fore- 'before' plus bode, from Old English bodian 'to announce, foretell') plus -ing. The base bodian derives from boda ('messenger').

## AI Etymology
Foreboding comes from forebode (fore- 'before' plus bode, from Old English bodian 'to announce, foretell') plus -ing. The base bodian derives from boda ('messenger'). The etymological trail includes Old English fore and Old English bodian. As a noun, foreboding names a feeling that something bad is about to happen. The same family is visible in derived forms such as forebodingly and related forms such as forebode, bode, and fore.

## Topics
- Emotions & Feelings
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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foreboding

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