menace
Americannoun
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something that threatens to cause evil, harm, injury, etc.; a threat.
Air pollution is a menace to health.
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a person whose actions, attitudes, or ideas are considered dangerous or harmful.
When he gets behind the wheel of a car, he's a real menace.
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an extremely annoying person.
verb (used with object)
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to utter or direct a threat against; threaten.
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to serve as a probable threat to; imperil.
overdevelopment that menaces our suburbs.
verb (used without object)
verb
noun
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literary a threat or the act of threatening
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something menacing; a source of danger
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informal a nuisance
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has menacedperfect 3rd person singular
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have menacedperfect
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has been menacingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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are menacingprogressive
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have been menacingperfect progressive
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am menacingprogressive 1st person singular
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is menacingprogressive 3rd person singular
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menacingparticiple
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menacessingular 3rd person
Past
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had menacedperfect
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had been menacingperfect progressive
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was menacingprogressive singular
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were menacingprogressive plural
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menacedparticiple
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menacedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of menace
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English manace, manance, from Middle French manace, menace, from Late Latin minācia “threat,” equivalent to mināc- (stem of mināx ) “jutting out, threatening” + -ia; verb from noun; see -ia
Explanation
If it's threatening you or otherwise posing some sort of danger, then it's a menace. Angry rabid dogs, smog clouds, and annoying little brothers are all probable menaces. The word menace works as both a noun and a verb, but it wasn't used to describe threatening or bothersome people until 1936. Before then, common menaces probably included things like the plague, locusts, and roving bands of pirate ships. Today, a bad reputation can menace an otherwise promising career, weeds can menace your garden, and burglars are a menace to society.
Vocabulary lists containing menace
May the 4th Be With You: Star Wars Words
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Vocabulary from the Lyrics of Kanye West
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"The Bells" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The idea for the character emerged when Beano's editor heard a musical hall song with the chorus "I'm Dennis the Menace from Venice" and ordered a character to fit the name.
From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026
The Brady Bunch traveled there, and so did Dennis the Menace in a comic book I once owned.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 1, 2025
Outfit details: Air Jordan 1s, thrifted Guess pants, Menace shirt, Target sweater.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2023
Rapper Juice Menace started making music when she was 17.
From BBC • Oct. 22, 2023
The impetus was the publication of a highly sensationalized book, The Hydrogen Bomb: The Men, The Menace, The Mechanism, by journalists James Shepley and Clay Blair Jr., which accepted Teller’s version of events as gospel.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
