Forbidding
Forbidding adjective - Causing fear.
Usage example: a dark, forbidding house, that is reputed to be haunted
Scary and forbidding are semantically related. in spooky topic. In some cases you can use "Scary" instead an adjective "Forbidding". informal substitute
Scary
Scary adjective - Causing fear.
Usage example: a scary movie that gave the child nightmares for weeks afterwards
Forbidding and scary are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Forbidding" instead an adjective "Scary".
Mutual synonyms
Related pairs
- sinister and forbidding
- sinister and scary
- terrible and forbidding
- terrible and scary
- frightful and forbidding
- frightful and scary
- appalling and forbidding
- appalling and scary
- shocking and forbidding
- shocking and scary
- ominous and forbidding
- ominous and scary
- threatening and forbidding
- threatening and scary
Both words in one sentence
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Up until the climax he was always more forbidding than truly scary, a Knight Templar with Smug Snake undertones who was hated as well as feared.
Source: Nothing Is Scarier - Villainesses usually get a sultry, suggestive one, unless they're supposed to be in command or scary, in which case their cadence will be dismissive and forbidding.
Source: Evil Sounds Deep
Cite this Source
Scary and Forbidding. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/forbidding/scary
Forbidding & Scary. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/forbidding/scary>.
Scary or Forbidding. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/forbidding/scary.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "forbidding" and "scary" have occurred on timeline