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definitions

minatory

[min-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]
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adjective

menacing; threatening.

RELATED WORDS

aggressive, alarming, apocalyptic, baleful, baneful, black, bullying, cautionary, close, dangerous, dire, fateful, forthcoming, grim, ill-boding, imminent, impending, inauspicious, looming, lowering
Also min·a·to·ri·al.

Origin of minatory

1525–35; < Late Latin minātōrius, equivalent to Latin minā(rī) to menace + -tōrious -tory1
Related formsmin·a·to·ri·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for minatory

Historical Examples of minatory

  • The harsh, minatory note of that voice sufficiently expressed the fact.

    Captain Blood

    Rafael Sabatini

  • Number 3, Lauriston Gardens wore an ill-omened and minatory look.

    A Study In Scarlet

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • The parson is very brisk when he reaches the minatory clause in his sermon.

    Ralph the Heir

    Anthony Trollope

  • And to these his appeal was persuasive and suggestive, never didactic or minatory.

    The Soul of Susan Yellam

    Horace Annesley Vachell

  • The unrestful, the well-organised and minatory sea had been advancing quickly.

    And Even Now

    Max Beerbohm

British Dictionary definitions for minatory

minatory

minatorial

adjective

threatening or menacing
Derived Formsminatorily or minatorially, adverb

Word Origin for minatory

C16: from Late Latin minātōrius, from Latin minārī to threaten
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 minatory
adj.

"expressing a threat, 1530s, from Middle French minatoire, from Late Latin minatorius, from minat-, stem of minari "to threaten" (see menace (n.)).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper