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dangerous

[deyn-jer-uh s, deynj-ruh s]
adjective
  1. full of danger or risk; causing danger; perilous; risky; hazardous; unsafe.
  2. able or likely to cause physical injury: a dangerous criminal.
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Origin of dangerous

1175–1225; Middle English da(u)ngerous domineering, fraught with danger < Old French dangereus threatening, difficult, equivalent to dangier (see danger) + -eus -ous
Related formsdan·ger·ous·ly, adverbdan·ger·ous·ness, nounnon·dan·ger·ous, adjectivenon·dan·ger·ous·ly, adverbnon·dan·ger·ous·ness, nounqua·si-dan·ger·ous, adjectivequa·si-dan·ger·ous·ly, adverbsem·i·dan·ger·ous, adjectivesem·i·dan·ger·ous·ly, adverbsem·i·dan·ger·ous·ness, nounun·dan·ger·ous, adjectiveun·dan·ger·ous·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for dangerousness

Historical Examples

  • It was not his intelligence which he thought we underrated, but his dangerousness.

    Prester John

    John Buchan

  • August paused a moment, checked by a sense of the dangerousness of his undertaking.

    The End Of The World

    Edward Eggleston

  • He was like an elephant in his hugeness, and suppleness, his dangerousness, and his gentleness.

    Mount Music

    E. Oe. Somerville and Martin Ross

  • The dangerousness may either lie in the nature of a person or thing, or be imposed upon it.

  • Never a calf of them will desert to Rawhide, for all their dangerousness; nor I ain't goin' to have any fuss over it.

    The Virginian

    Owen Wister

British Dictionary definitions for dangerousness

dangerous

adjective
  1. causing danger; perilous
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Derived Formsdangerously, adverbdangerousness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dangerousness

dangerous

adj.

early 13c., "difficult, arrogant, severe" (the opposite of affable), from Anglo-French dangerous, Old French dangeros (12c., Modern French dangereux), from danger (see danger).

In Chaucer, it means "hard to please, reluctant to give;" sense of "full of danger, risky" is from late 15c. Other words used in this sense included dangersome (1560s), dangerful (1540s). Related: Dangerously.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with dangerousness

dangerous

see little knowledge is a dangerous thing; live dangerously.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.