They try to read the wording of the initiative, but find it forbidding.

ECONOMIST: Citizens are not as well-informed as they think

The church was tiny, built of dark, almost black stone that gave it a forbidding air.

NEWYORKER: Faith

The fact that it launches a projected trilogy makes it all the more forbidding.

NEWYORKER: The Weeping Meadow

It's mildly forbidding, as are many things Croatian, to my ears.

NPR: What's In a Nickname? The Answer Is in the Cup

The feds are investigating it for locking in agents exclusively and forbidding them to offer cheaper rival services.

FORBES: On the Backs Of the Poor

Palm's actions makes it seem like there are no other ways for a device to interact with iTunes, and the company's outraged response to Apple blocking the Pre make it seem like Apple is wrong for forbidding non-iPod devices from masquerading as iPods.

ENGADGET: Editorial: Palm, iTunes, and the ties that don't bind

Writing for a 6-3 majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy held that a Colorado constitutional amendment forbidding local gay rights legislation lacked a rational basis because it singled out gays, but he expressly declined to establish gays as a class that needs special antidiscrimination treatment.

WSJ: Review & Outlook: Marriage and the Supreme Court

New Jersey Transit is no more consistent than the MTA, forbidding alcohol on its Hudson-Bergen light-rail line while allowing it on other services.

WSJ: End of the Line for Midnight Drinkers

Anthony coin: It looked like a quarter, and the portrait of Anthony was rather forbidding.

FORBES: NO PEEPING WITHOUT PERMISSION