menace
Americannoun
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something that threatens to cause evil, harm, injury, etc.; a threat.
Air pollution is a menace to health.
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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.
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an extremely annoying person.
verb (used with object)
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to utter or direct a threat against; threaten.
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to serve as a probable threat to; imperil.
overdevelopment that menaces our suburbs.
verb (used without object)
verb
noun
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literary a threat or the act of threatening
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something menacing; a source of danger
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informal a nuisance
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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menacesimple
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menacessimple
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have menacedperfect
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has menacedperfect
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am menacingprogressive
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are menacingprogressive
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is menacingprogressive
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have been menacingperfect progressive
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has been menacingperfect progressive
Past
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menacedsimple
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had menacedperfect
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was menacingprogressive
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were menacingprogressive
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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.
His naiveté begins to feel contrived, a way to preserve a hazy aura of romance and menace.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
"There's some menace, there's this animal component in Max Cady that has always been there, that is so physical," Bardem told journalists ahead of the June 5 series' release on Apple TV.
From Barron's • Jun. 3, 2026
Charlie Hunnam, “Monster: The Ed Gein Story” “Richard Gadd’s toxic menace in ‘Half Men,’ a world removed from his ‘Baby Reindeer’ breakthrough, could propel him back to the winner’s circle.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
This is a useful menace going forward, a signal to think twice.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
This insect infests about a third of Africa, posing a menace to human health and preventing the keeping of livestock in an area of some 4% million square miles of wooded grasslands.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
