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:
Let’s play along with the former for the sake of the cast, who are deeply committed, to their own peril.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 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
Williams has not yet ruled out being fit enough to play on Friday - but the indications would suggest that another emotional appearance on Centre Court with sister Venus is in serious peril.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
But the federal sign-off does not end the deal's legal peril.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
Later, when the dragon had grown too large to stay here safely, Aaron faced great peril to send it back to the rest of its kind.
From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville
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
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
But when it’s not discussing existential perils of the universe, the document also happens to explain the business model of SpaceX.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Yet Johns abstract warnings of the perils of the unshielded cyclotron had less visceral impact on the staff than the fate of the very first mouse he irradiated with neutrons.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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
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
He exacted the utmost consideration for his men, and the officer who periled their safety, or disputed their efficiency, was quickly called to account.
From Robert Toombs Statesman, Speaker, Soldier, Sage by Stovall, Pleasant A.
“I would have periled my very soul to have won him.”
From Daisy Brooks Or, A Perilous Love 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
You may answer me, if you please, with a similar analogy, "Who would not prefer the amputation of an arm to the periling of life by doubt and procrastination!"
From The Sorrows of Young Werther by Boylan, R. Dillon
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
What!—already faint-hearted!—A miracle of beauty such as Darville described is well worth periling one's neck to gaze upon.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846 by Various
And you, sir, a citizen of high standing and repute, were detected in the act of transferring many of these important papers to a spy, thus periling the safety of the nation.
From Mary Louise by Baum, L. Frank (Lyman Frank)
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
She used the church to drag Her life from something, took it for a bladder To float her soul when it was perilled.
From Domesday Book by Masters, Edgar Lee
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
He perilled everything, while they staked only their lives and their property.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 93, July, 1865 by Various
Discovery would not only have perilled my own life, but also have involved those of my kind protectors.
From Arthur O'Leary His Wanderings And Ponderings In Many Lands by Lever, Charles James
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
That wife, whom it is your greatest pleasure to win to smiles, wears a half-sad look as she meets these proofs of love; she fears that you are perilling too much for her pleasure.
From Dream Life A Fable Of The Seasons by Mitchell, Donald Grant
"I give thee my gage," said the cavalier, "with this understanding, then, that I am free to fly, whenever I may do so without perilling thy life, and the life of Jacinto."
From Calavar or The Knight of The Conquest, A Romance of Mexico by Bird, Robert Montgomery
About noon Dennis noticed that some shanties on the sand near them were in danger of catching fire and perilling all in that vicinity.
From Barriers Burned Away by Roe, Edward Payson
However much her demagogues may have exerted their oratorical powers at home, they carefully avoided perilling either life or limb in the cause of the revolution.
From Pius IX. And His Time by Dawson, Æneas MacDonell
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.
