menace
Americannoun
-
menaces
plural
-
something that threatens to cause evil, harm, injury, etc.; a threat.
Air pollution is a menace to health.
-
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.
-
an extremely annoying person.
verb (used with object)
-
menaces,
present (3rd person singular)
-
menaced,
past participle, past
-
menacing
present participle
-
to utter or direct a threat against; threaten.
-
to serve as a probable threat to; imperil.
overdevelopment that menaces our suburbs.
verb (used without object)
-
menaces,
present (3rd person singular)
-
menaced,
past participle, past
-
menacing
present participle
verb
noun
-
literary a threat or the act of threatening
-
something menacing; a source of danger
-
informal a nuisance
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
menacesimple
-
menacessimple
-
have menacedperfect
-
has menacedperfect
-
am menacingprogressive
-
are menacingprogressive
-
is menacingprogressive
-
have been menacingperfect progressive
-
has been menacingperfect progressive
Past
-
menacedsimple
-
had menacedperfect
-
was menacingprogressive
-
were menacingprogressive
-
had been menacingperfect progressive
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.
See Examples For:
In a victim impact statement, Nurse's sister Samantha Carvalho described Sabat as a "menace to society", and said the "heartlessness" of the killing was "impossible to comprehend".
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
The herky-jerky, unceasing Children of the Hydra’s Teeth are all memorable menace, their details etched deep into the film stock by the punishing midday sun of the Mediterranean.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
On the album’s back half, a few unabashedly beautiful songs stand out like rock formations rising from the desert floor—especially “Deep Time,” which offers a shot of serenity amid all the slow-moving menace.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Intrigued by the vague mixture of menace and nostalgia that the image evoked, internet users began sharing stories and speculating that the Backrooms is a hidden dimension into which people might accidentally find themselves.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
There’s a shadow of menace amid the corners.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
EU officials said that as part of the efforts they want to step up the mandatory registration of drones across the bloc to be able to better keep track of potential menaces.
From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026
The book’s most edifying compilations recount the Soviet people’s unconquerable yearning to live, create and love freely, despite the daily menaces of a police state and deafening propaganda.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 16, 2025
Given the twin menaces of global warming and pandemic threats, “the reality, now, is that human civilization is in actual grave danger.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2025
It is a disgrace, he says, that the energy firms can send out "menaces" like that over a problem of their making.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2025
Speaking from the White House, President Eisenhower said he sent troops because “Mob rule in Little Rock menaces the very safety of the United States and the free world.”
From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals
Vectus is focused on selling to customers in the Middle East, where Iranian drones have menaced critical infrastructure, including American military bases and data centers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Hawaii was menaced by Hurricane Fausto last month, before the storm weakened and skirted north of the island chain.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
Even when the whole family is menaced, as in “Poltergeist,” the evil entities have a special yearning to possess little blonde girls.
From Salon ● Oct. 27, 2025
Just when I thought things were losing steam, someone got menaced in an actual steam room.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2025
They thought the thing that had menaced the city for years had been captured, that all would be well from hereon.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
All of which is to concede that, while Cohn’s historic significance is, at best, minimal, his status as a menacing specter in the minds of liberal journalists has only grown.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
The same grin can look menacing or jovial, depending on how Thatcher contorts the rest of her features.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
Emblazoned on his outer forearm is a menacing portrait of Tony Montana from the 1983 film “Scarface.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
In this sense, the Backrooms reveal how digital culture is beginning to reshape experiences traditionally associated with tourism, allowing for the mundane to become menacing.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
The quiet glade, the sun on the alders, seemed suddenly menacing.
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
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.
