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
Scotland's hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup are in peril after Brazil won 3-0 in Miami.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
His exit foreshadows the peril to come at Sunnyside Daycare.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
However, there were two men in that little band who scorned to weigh the chances of success or failure, to whom the extreme peril of the attempt was a reason for making it.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
The Platner disaster shows the danger in that thinking—and the perils of the macho attitude behind it.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
“ProPublica’s reporting shows the perils of not having this law,” Rubin said.
From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2026
But by steering the live-action Prime Video adaptation directly into the anxieties of the zeitgeist, showrunner Eric Kripke has transformed the superhero satire into a terrifying tale about the perils of authoritarianism.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
It is also an example of the perils of a small-town official, drawn to the limelight, finding herself under the klieg lights of a true-crime drama that became a national sensation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 24, 2026
Her awareness of life’s perils convinced her that while I would be safe on the public conveyances, she “wasn’t about to trust a taxi driver with her baby.”
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
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
One night last week an old dog periled the Earl's new job.
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
“I would have periled my very soul to have won him.”
From Daisy Brooks Or, A Perilous Love by Libbey, Laura Jean
It is but natural that the people should turn with beaming eyes and grateful hearts to the heroic Union soldiers who have nobly periled their all in defence of their country.
From Campaign of the Fourteenth Regiment New Jersey Volunteers by Terrill, J. Newton
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
But her periling her life to save him from an unjust accusation, and her desire to shield her brother's pride from ridicule, is altogether praiseworthy and extraordinary.
From The Heritage of Dedlow Marsh and Other Tales by Harte, Bret
The case of the colored man Davis, who made such a bold stroke to regain his liberty, by periling his life on board the steamer Keystone State, has excited very general attention.
He was one of those men, who, under more favorable circumstances, would have been a Cook, a Parry, or a Franklin, periling everything to make farther discovery in the science of geography.
From International Weekly Miscellany of Literature, Art, and Science — Volume 1, No. 4, July 22, 1850 by Various
He reconnoitred every available point, searched every corner of possible danger, and as the time passed he began to rage with impatience against Dick, whose delay was now periling the success of the enterprise.
From The Iron Game A Tale of the War by Keenan, Henry F. (Henry Francis)
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
I could not possibly think of using your eyes, precious and perilled as they are, instead of my own.
From Records of Later Life by Kemble, Fanny
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
A vague presentiment whispered within me that the happiness of my whole life was at stake,—perhaps perilled for ever.
From The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 2 of 6 by Sue, Eugène
It ought, we think, to be regarded as one fundamental law, that whatever has been gained by the seven years’ establishment of the Fund, should not be lightly perilled by bold and untried innovations.
From Leading Articles on Various Subjects by Davidson, John
He professed gratitude for the many favors he had received from the monarch, a gratitude he had never tired of making known by perilling life and property in that prince's cause.
From History of the Rise of the Huguenots Vol. 1 by Baird, Henry Martyn
It was at least a foot higher and of solid stone masonry, and as I did so I felt that I was perilling my life to save theirs.
From Charles O'Malley, The Irish Dragoon, Volume 2 by Lever, Charles James
He had lost caste, he feared, with Pledge, and he was running into the enemy’s country and perilling not only himself, but Dick, in the venture.
From Follow My leader The Boys of Templeton by Stacey, W. S. (Walter S.)
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
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.
