threaten
Americanverb (used with object)
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to utter a threat against; menace.
He threatened the boy with a beating.
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to be a menace or source of danger to.
Sickness threatened her peace of mind.
- Synonyms:
- endanger
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to offer (a punishment, injury, etc.) by way of a threat.
They threatened swift retaliation.
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to give an ominous indication of.
The clouds threaten rain.
verb (used without object)
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to utter or use threats.
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to indicate impending evil or mischief.
verb
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(tr) to be a threat to
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to be a menacing indication of (something); portend
dark clouds threatened rain
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(when tr, may take a clause as object) to express a threat to (a person or people)
Usage
What does threaten mean? To threaten someone is to indicate that you will cause harm to or create some other kind of negative consequences for them, especially to pressure them to do something or not to do something. This kind of statement is called a threat. Threatening someone often involves a promise to physically harm them in retaliation for what they have done or might do. A bank robber might threaten a bank teller by telling them he’ll shoot them if they don’t hand over the money. Some threats are simply meant to intimidate, and don’t involve pressuring someone to do something. A bully might threaten to punch you for no good reason. Not all threats involve violence. You can threaten someone with a lawsuit. The word threat can also refer to someone or something that may potentially cause harm or damage, and threaten can mean to be a source of potential harm or damage. A disease threatens your health. A security threat is someone or something that threatens to make a situation unsafe. Threat can also mean a warning or sign that harm or trouble is coming, and threaten can mean to indicate potential harm or trouble, as in It is threatening to storm out there. The adjective threatening is used to describe someone or something that causes alarm, intimidates, or is intended to intimidate, as in You look very threatening in that costume. The adjective threatened means in danger, as in I felt threatened or We need to protect threatened species. Example: The rowdy students immediately started to behave after the teacher threatened to call their parents.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of threaten
First recorded before 1000; Middle English thretnen, Old English thrēatnian, derivative of thrēat “pressure, oppression”; equivalent to threat + -en 1
Explanation
Something that threatens makes its danger known. Storm clouds threaten rain, and bullies threaten other kids. Unfortunately, there are lots of people and things that threaten — it's a dangerous world. If someone threatens you with violence, you should call the police. The police may then threaten the criminal with arresting them. Nations threaten each other before going to war. You can also say a dangerous situation is threatening, like gloomy weather. Sometimes this word is used more lightheartedly, like if an old friend threatens to hug you to death.
Vocabulary lists containing threaten
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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.
Hiking rates right as higher oil prices threaten to slow Japan’s economy by restraining corporate activity and private consumption is not without risk.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026
Geofence warrants threaten to re-create that logic in digital form.
From Slate • May 20, 2026
It’s a perennial pathogen, highly contagious and extremely deadly, and its occasional flareups could threaten a global disaster.
From Salon • May 20, 2026
We must keep struggling to maintain our humanity, though monsters of abstraction threaten and police us.’
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
“You offer me safety! You threaten me! With what?”
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
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.
