as in to endanger
to remain poised to inflict harm, danger, or distress on
the powerful hurricane continues to threaten the southern coastline
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of threaten
New York has a proud history of environmental stewardship, which is now threatened.
—
Anshul Gupta, New York Daily News, 7 Jan. 2026
Cinema United argued that the consolidation threatens to reduce the number of movies released theatrically and increase the leverage of studios in exhibition negotiations.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 7 Jan. 2026
Boston Dynamics leaders said the Atlas robots don’t have enough dexterity to threaten many human jobs.
—Aj Willingham, AJC.com, 7 Jan. 2026
Advertisement President Theodore Roosevelt, not long thereafter, introduced what would later be known as the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine after European creditors of a number of Latin American countries threatened to use armed intervention to collect debts.
—Nandika Chatterjee, Time, 7 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for threaten
Recent Examples of Synonyms for threaten
Verb
-
On Friday, Wieber was arraigned before Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro on charges of first- and second-degree kidnapping, both of which are felonies, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.—
-
Hale returned to the stand for an hour Thursday morning in an effort to salvage her testimony, but defense lawyers ultimately argued that allowing her testimony to stand would endanger Gonzales' right to a fair trial.—
Verb
-
The Chinese, too, are absolutely shocked that a great power is menacing a small neighbor and inflicting regime change by military force.—
-
As the two catch up, Crudup veers from good-natured to sorrowful to bitter to menacing in a matter of minutes.—
Cite this Entry
“Threaten.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/threaten. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share