danger
Americannoun
-
dangers
plural
-
liability or exposure to harm or injury; risk; peril.
-
an instance or cause of peril; menace.
-
Obsolete. power; jurisdiction; domain.
noun
-
the state of being vulnerable to injury, loss, or evil; risk
-
a person or thing that may cause injury, pain, etc
-
obsolete power
-
liable to
-
critically ill in hospital
Synonym Usage
Danger, hazard, peril, jeopardy imply harm that one may encounter. Danger is the general word for liability to all kinds of injury or evil consequences, either near at hand and certain, or remote and doubtful: to be in danger of being killed. Hazard suggests a danger that one can foresee but cannot avoid: A mountain climber is exposed to many hazards. Peril usually denotes great and imminent danger: The passengers on the disabled ship were in great peril. Jeopardy, a less common word, has essentially the same meaning as peril, but emphasizes exposure to the chances of a situation: To save his friend he put his life in jeopardy.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of danger
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English da(u)nger, from Anglo-French, Old French dangier, alteration of dongier (by influence of dam damage ), from Vulgar Latin domniārium (unrecorded), equivalent to Latin domini(um) dominion + -ārium (neuter of -ārius -ary )
Explanation
When you're in danger, it seems likely that you might get hurt. Your mom might warn you that if you don't wear your bicycle helmet, you're in danger of getting injured. A baby bird teetering on the edge of its nest is in danger, and a driver whose car stalls on railroad tracks is also in danger. When something unpleasant might happen, you can also use the word danger: "We were in danger of running out of guacamole before the party ended." Danger can also be a precarious or perilous place, as when you step up on the curb on a busy street, out of danger.
Vocabulary lists containing danger
Indiana Jones Vocabulary
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Part 1 Vocabulary (Unit 1)
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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.
See Examples For:
Tensions across the Middle East remain elevated, with Saudi Arabia issuing alerts of potential danger in Red Sea oil export Yanbu, they add.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
With that cool, rainy Halloween now a memory, Santa Ana winds are moving into Southern California starting Thursday, bringing escalating heat and critical fire danger in mountain areas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
But that does not mean the U.S. is out of danger.
From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2026
"It poses no danger at all," the Chinese embassy wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday, drawing skeptical comments.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
Were the people of Mount St. Helens in danger?
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
But it shouldn’t blind us to the dangers Suleyman identified as arising from the very human tendency to anthropomorphize AI machines — that is, endowing them with human personalities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
The country's main employers' organisation, quoted by the Belga news agency, warned meanwhile of the dangers of a political crisis when "markets are paying increasingly close attention to Belgium."
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026
This isn’t to say that either of them is a raging narcissist who cares only about themselves, but there’s no doubt that their sport’s seismic, life-altering dangers are on full display, warts and all.
From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2026
It was also, he added, "insurance against dangers scarcely less grave and much more near and constant which threaten us here at home".
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
People in the area felt uncomfortable about a poisonous spider wandering their neighborhood, and blogs discussed the dangers posed by Penelope and her offspring.
From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
