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foreboding

[fawr-boh-ding, fohr-]

Origin

noun

a prediction; portent.

a strong inner feeling or notion of a future misfortune, evil, etc.; presentiment.

adjective

that forebodes, especially evil.

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Foreboding is always a great word to know.

So is quincunx. Does it mean:

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

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Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English forbodyng (noun); see forebode, -ing¹, -ing²

Related forms

fore·bod·ing·ly, adverb

fore·bod·ing·ness, noun

un·fore·bod·ing, adjective

Can be confused: forbidding, foreboding.

Dictionary.com Unabridged

verb (used with object)

to foretell or predict; be an omen of; indicate beforehand; portend: clouds that forebode a storm.

to have a strong inner feeling or notion of (a future misfortune, evil, catastrophe, etc.); have a presentiment of.

verb (used without object)

to prophesy.

to have a presentiment.

Origin:
1595–1605; fore- + bode

Related forms

fore·bod·er, noun

un·fore·bod·ed, adjective

Can be confused: forbade, forbid, forbidden, forebode (see synonym note at forbid).

Synonyms
1. foreshadow, presage, forecast, augur.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To foreboding

Collins

World English Dictionary

foreboding (fɔːˈbəʊdɪŋ)

—n
1.	a feeling of impending evil, disaster, etc
2.	an omen or portent

—*adj*
3.	presaging something

fore'bodingly

—*adv*

fore'bodingness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

foreboding

late 14c., "a predilection, portent, omen," from fore + verbal noun from bode. Meaning "sense of something bad about to happen" is from c.1600.

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forebode

"feel a secret premonition," c.1600, from fore + bode. Cf. also foreboding.

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