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:
“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
England began with the chance to bat themselves into a strong position, yet were left in peril by a Black Caps' opening burst that ripped the guts out of the home middle-order.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
His exit foreshadows the peril to come at Sunnyside Daycare.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
But the federal sign-off does not end the deal's legal peril.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
Not for his passenger's sake, but to save his ship from the peril of the storm, the master shouted at once to the steersman to head westward toward the light.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Platner disaster shows the danger in that thinking—and the perils of the macho attitude behind it.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
The perils of leaving a five-star review on a wing and a prayer.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 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
The privations and perils were constant and exhausting.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
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
He was re-elected in 1792 and in 1796 was elected President of that Republic for which he had freely periled life, fortune and honor.
From Sages and Heroes of the American Revolution by Judson, L. Carroll
Captain Shier was as gallant an officer as any who periled his life on that famous battle field; and not only a fine soldier but a polished scholar and an accomplished gentleman as well.
From Personal Recollections of a Cavalryman With Custer's Michigan Cavalry Brigade in the Civil War by Kidd, James Harvey
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
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 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)
For now it came to me that while I would be saving life, mayhap I had been periling it again.
From The Master of Appleby A Novel Tale Concerning Itself in Part with the Great Struggle in the Two Carolinas; but Chiefly with the Adventures Therein of Two Gentlemen Who Loved One and the Same Lady by Lynde, Francis
He had informed Butler's agent; he had watched day and night; had given the Unionists plans of the grounds; was now periling his own rescue to bring the arch-traitor to his doom.
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
The Republicans greeted him with acclamation as the honored citizen of two republics, the man who had perilled life and health in rescuing his countrymen from slavery.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 26, July 1880. by Various
Freedom, patriotism, and humanity demand the union of the freemen of the Republic, for the sake of liberty now perilled.
From Presidential Candidates: containing Sketches, Biographical, Personal and Political, of Prominent Candidates for the Presidency in 1860 by Bartlett, D. W.
No, no; not one, Eneas," replied Macpherson—"no life shall be perilled in this cause but my own.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 4 by Various
Is this young prince mad," they whispered one to another, "to risk the loss of that for which he perilled his life?
From The Thousand and One Days A Companion to the 'Arabian Nights' by Pardoe, Julia
She felt extreme reluctance in perilling her home.
From What Can She Do? by Roe, Edward Payson
"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
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
"Ay, but methinks the Soldan might regard it as too unequal a mode of perilling the chance of a royal bride and the event of a great war," said the Emir.
From The Talisman by Scott, Walter, Sir
She was perilling her own in order to accompany and assist his expedition.
From The Firebrand by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)
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.
