Translation guide
A feeling that something bad will happen. Japanese expresses this through nouns, adjectives, and set phrases that describe ominous premonitions or uneasy atmospheres.
Expressing a vague feeling that something bad is about to happen.
A premonition or presentiment. Often used with 悪い (bad) to specify a negative foreboding.
Describing a situation, place, or event that feels threatening or sinister.
Eerie, uncanny, ominous. Describes something that gives an unsettling or creepy feeling.
Expressing a sense of impending doom in a narrative or formal context.
予感 is a general premonition and can be positive or negative depending on context. 胸騒ぎ specifically refers to an uneasy, physical sensation of foreboding and is always negative.
There is no single Japanese word that perfectly matches 'foreboding' in all contexts. Avoid trying to translate it directly; instead, choose the expression that fits the specific nuance (premonition, atmosphere, omen).
悪い予感がする。
I have a bad feeling about this.
A feeling of unease or apprehension, literally 'chest disturbance'. Conveys a physical sense of foreboding.
胸騒ぎがして眠れなかった。
I had a sense of foreboding and couldn't sleep.
Literally 'unpleasant premonition'. A very common way to say 'bad feeling' or 'foreboding'.
嫌な予感が当たった。
My foreboding came true.
A superstitious expression meaning 'gut feeling' or 'omen', literally 'insect's notice'. Used when you have an inexplicable bad feeling.
虫の知らせで家に帰った。
I went home because of a foreboding feeling.
不気味な静けさが漂っていた。
An ominous silence hung in the air.
Ominous, ill-omened. Often used for signs, dreams, or events that seem to predict misfortune.
不吉な夢を見た。
I had an ominous dream.
An unpleasant or foreboding atmosphere. A straightforward way to describe a setting that feels wrong.
この部屋は嫌な雰囲気がする。
This room has a foreboding atmosphere.
Omen, sign, harbinger. Often used in literature to indicate a foreboding sign of future events.
それは破滅の前兆だった。
It was a foreboding of ruin.