sword of Damocles

American

noun

any situation threatening imminent harm or disaster.

Sword of Damocles British

noun

a closely impending disaster

"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

sword of Damocles Idioms

Also, Damocles' sword. Impending disaster, as in The likelihood of lay-offs has been a sword of Damocles over the department for months. This expression alludes to the legend of Damocles, a servile courtier to King Dionysius I of Syracuse. The king, weary of Damocles' obsequious flattery, invited him to a banquet and seated him under a sword hung by a single hair, so as to point out to him the precariousness of his position. The idiom was first recorded in 1747. The same story gave rise to the expression hang by a thread.

Etymology

Origin of sword of Damocles

First recorded in 1810–20

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:

sword of Damocles Sword of Damocles

The sword of Damocles didn’t descend, but its glint lit every meeting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

But even then, the rare earths situation could stay unresolved, “hanging like a sword of Damocles over many companies’ heads,” Gave says.

From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2025

Hackford recalls feeling the sword of Damocles hanging over his head when he phoned King, who replied, “I wish I’d thought of that.”

From Salon ● Mar. 23, 2025

She described it as a "sword of Damocles over my head for three long years".

From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2024

The second week of January 1890, Jo writes to her sister, “It’s like a sword of Damocles forever hanging over our heads—I never really have a moment’s peace.”

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman

Companies hope the trade disputes will settle down, but tariffs hang over the economy like the Sword of Damocles.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 16, 2025

Because that conviction hangs over her head like the Sword of Damocles — making it hard to get on with her life and always, somehow, bringing more instability and pain to her, and to Summer.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2022

She said: "Now, users can carry out their work without a Sword of Damocles hanging over them, and we can ensure that valuable ways are saved."

From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2022

And it's more and more important because we all have this Sword of Damocles hang over us from the moment we're born.

From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2020

A Lawyer’s Story. 4to, paper, 20 cents; 16mo, paper, 50 cents; cloth $1 00 Behind Closed Doors. 16mo, paper, 50 cents; cloth $1 00 The Sword of Damocles.

From The Doctor, his Wife, and the Clock by Anna Katharine Green

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023