threatening

American  

[thret-n-ing] / ˈθrɛt n ɪŋ /

adjective

1. tending or intended to menace.

   threatening gestures.

2. causing alarm, as by being imminent; ominous; sinister.

   threatening clouds.

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Related Words

See imminent, ominous.

Other Word Forms

• nonthreatening adjective
• nonthreateningly adverb
• threateningly adverb
• unthreatening adjective
• unthreateningly adverb

Etymology

Origin of threatening

First recorded in 1520–30; threaten + -ing ²

Example Sentences

Fidelity, the mutual-fund giant, stopped threatening to vote against directors on insufficiently diverse boards.

From The Wall Street Journal

“What’s especially threatening about this is that our state’s tax structure is essentially a house of cards,” Kiley said.

From Los Angeles Times

There’s now also plenty of angst around AI threatening to make whole industries obsolete and risking white-collar jobs in the process.

From MarketWatch

Which was crazy, because he was the one who’d gotten the threatening letters.

From Literature

Meanwhile, the U.S. is dialing up the economic pressure by tightening sanctions and threatening tariffs against countries that trade with Iran.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• aggressive
• alarming
• cautionary
• dangerous
• dire
• sinister
• ugly