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:
He’s a menace on stage in the best way possible, almost defying an audience to like him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 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
In adapting the premise for TV, series creator Nick Antosca dilutes the movies’ naked menace by pouring reasonable doubt into both Max’s profile and that of the Bowdens, the married lawyers behind his downfall.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
Meanwhile, Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi, arguably the world's best right back, was a constant menace both on the ball and in the Canadian players' faces, while creative fulcrum Brahim Diaz claimed two assists.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
Whenever Merlyn and his companion swam past them, they raised their spiky dorsal fins in menace, and only lowered them when they saw that Merlyn was a tench.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
When these run out of legitimate purpose, they become actual menaces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
These might be helpful, anodyne retail chatbots; they also might be utter menaces like Google Docs’ Gemini pop-up.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
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
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
I laughed in my sleeve at his menaces.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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
Asian carp have taken over the Mississippi River and dozens of tributaries, where they have menaced native fish by eating much of their food.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 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
In the war’s heady early months, after Russian forces menaced Kyiv but then were forced to pull back, people flocked to the square to take selfies, and children played tag between the hulking wrecks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2024
Rabbits avoid close woodland, where the ground is shady, damp and grassless and they feel menaced by the undergrowth.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
“The Whisper Man” leans heavily on the twists and turns of its propulsive and menacing plot, which occasionally creaks like stairs to that creepy basement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
The same grin can look menacing or jovial, depending on how Thatcher contorts the rest of her features.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 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
Whether he was playing steely but likeable heroes or a chillingly menacing villains, Neill was one of the most versatile stars in the film industry and always commanded attention on screen.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
That menacing message was soon followed by an even more frightening development.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
