peril
Americannoun
-
exposure to injury, loss, or destruction; grave risk; jeopardy; danger.
They faced the peril of falling rocks.
-
something that causes or may cause injury, loss, or destruction.
verb (used with object)
noun
Synonym Usage
See danger.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of peril
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin perīculum “danger, test, trial,” from perī-, verb base meaning “try” (also found in the compound experīrī “to try, test”; see experience) + -culum -cle 2
Explanation
If you realize mid-climb that your rock climbing rope is frayed, you might be in peril. The word peril means imminent danger to life and limb. Peril comes from the Latin peric(u)lum, meaning danger. Today it's often used in tandem with the word mortal, which relates to death. For example, you're in mortal peril when you're flying down a cliff-side trail on your mountain bike and you hit loose gravel. Peril can also describe dangers of a less physical sort, though it's less common. If your employer sinks your 401K into what turns out to be a Ponzi scheme, he's put your retirement in peril.
Vocabulary lists containing peril
"The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs
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"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
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ACT Vocabulary List
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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:
GM and the broader U.S. industry still face potential peril.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
“Legally Blonde” sets up Elle to be underestimated by everybody, including the audience, although the movie drops small hints from the very start that perhaps everyone misjudges her at their peril.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
That was partly caused by the expansion to 12 groups, meaning it was very difficult for there to be a group which would create any peril for a top nation.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
It was in this context, that AllHere, in corporate financial peril, allegedly paid for Carvalho’s travel to the White House gathering, where Carvalho was featured, sources said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2026
What had once been home was now a place of peril and the family was poverty stricken.
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
Just a couple of days before that now-infamous blog post, the firm inadvertently provided a different, no-less-perfect example of the perils of mass digitization.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
The perils of leaving a five-star review on a wing and a prayer.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
What could they teach us about the power and perils of hero worship in a community that has produced too few figures of Chávez’s stature?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
“ProPublica’s reporting shows the perils of not having this law,” Rubin said.
From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2026
More broadly, scientific research does exist that supports the value of teaching the arts and humanities—and the perils of de-emphasizing them.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
Whether Franklin Roosevelt consciously led the U.S. to war, or hoped to keep the U.S. out by a daring support of its periled friends, will be historians' debating ground for years to come.
From Time Magazine Archive
We all realize that we live in periled times, and our nation must be prepared to defend itself at a moment's notice.
From Time Magazine Archive
One night last week an old dog periled the Earl's new job.
From Time Magazine Archive
The scurvy-smitten men were failing for the want of it, and so every thing must be periled to make the journey.
From North-Pole Voyages by Mudge, Zachariah Atwell
"Another young man periled his life for you," some one answered; but who it was Dorothy could not learn, and in that moment she was glad enough to call for Jack—poor, faithful Jack Garner.
From Pretty Madcap Dorothy Or, How She Won a Lover by Libbey, Laura Jean
Justice Department attorneys respond that fears about Snepp's being a loose cannon periling the First Amendment rights of all sorts of people are greatly exaggerated.
From Time Magazine Archive
There was a mystery connected with her periling her life in the way she did that I could not then solve, but I made no inquiry into her secret.
From Uncle Daniel's Story Of "Tom" Anderson And Twenty Great Battles by McElroy, John
He was still holding fast his faith in General McClellan, and this was steadily widening the breach between him and Congress, and periling the success of the war.
From Political Recollections 1840 to 1872 by Julian, George W.
He had refused Kate's prayer; he had driven her to this mad search and the contagion now periling her life, or, if it were spared, leaving her a hideous specter of herself.
From The Iron Game A Tale of the War by Keenan, Henry F. (Henry Francis)
Their generous hostess, periling her own life for them, daily supplied them with food.
From Madame Roland, Makers of History by Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
But a monarch of the forest flung his head in furious rage, Naught he cared for sovereign sahib, sought some foe now to engage; While the crowd in panic parted, perilled pundits sought a sage.
From Time Magazine Archive
Directly he seemed to have the end in his hand, and they saw him stretch the left arm as if to throw it around the body of the perilled man.
From The Coward A Novel of Society and the Field in 1863 by Morford, Henry
It is wonderful how truth has been perilled by passion.
From The Limits Of Atheism Or, Why should Sceptics be Outlaws? by Holyoake, George Jacob
So long as I supported the mad troop, I could count upon her, even though it perilled her soul.
From Deep Moat Grange by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)
The cause in which I perilled life was that of France, my country.
From Diary And Notes Of Horace Templeton, Esq. Volume I (of II) by Lever, Charles James
She was perilling her own in order to accompany and assist his expedition.
From The Firebrand by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)
Ten of these were serving in the Union army perilling their lives to maintain that national fabric, which their illustrious ancestor had done so much to establish.
From Benjamin Franklin A Picture of the Struggles of Our Infant Nation One Hundred Years Ago American Pioneers and Patriots Series by Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
God forbid I should think of my own safety, when so many of the faithful are perilling theirs!
From The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic — Volume 2 by Prescott, William Hickling
His mind belittled the cause for which her idolized father was, at that moment, perilling his life, and to which her dearest friends had consecrated themselves.
From An Original Belle by Roe, Edward Payson
Humbly and earnestly I sought to the God of wisdom and light to guide me; and I never felt for a moment that I was perilling my salvation.
From Autobiography and Letters of Orville Dewey, D.D. Edited by his Daughter by Dewey, Mary Elizabeth
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.
