menacing

[men-i-sing]

adjective

1. expressing or serving as a menace or threat: menacing language.

   his menacing glare;

   menacing language.

Other Word Forms

• menacingly adverb
• nonmenacing adjective
• unmenacing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of menacing¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; menace ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

Synonym Study

See ominous.

Example Sentences

The old man would become the menacing force behind many of Shepard’s plays.

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Fittingly, the Clipse opened their set with the menacing “Chains and Whips,” which is jam packed with lethal, high-level bars about why contemporary rappers simply can’t sit with them.

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For some reason she pictured the animal wearing Judge Quinzy’s thick and distorting glasses, which made its glinting amber eyes appear larger and more menacing than they already were.

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But the drivers seemed somehow menacing to her, with their fake friendliness and huckstering offers of a ride.

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Suddenly he didn’t look so off and menacing.

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Related Words

• alarming 
• dangerous 
• frightening www.thesaurus.com
• threatening