What does imperil mean?
Imperil is a formal verb meaning to put a person, thing, or undertaking in danger. It is especially associated with writing about severe risks, such as threatening lives, damaging safety, or jeopardizing the success of an enterprise. For example, a statement that a policy could imperil public health conveys a more elevated and emphatic warning than the plainer phrase could harm people’s health. The word carries a serious, often literary tone and is therefore less common in casual conversation, where endanger or put at risk is more usual. Although imperil can function as a transitive verb without an explicit preposition, constructions such as imperil someone's safety and imperil the lives of a group are especially idiomatic. Its relationship to peril is clear both in meaning and in its associations with danger and threatened harm.
verbTo put someone or something in danger; to expose to or create the risk of harm. The word is formal and literary in tone.
- To endanger or expose to danger.
- To jeopardize the safety, success, or prospects of something.
"The decision to continue the expedition imperiled the lives of the entire crew."
"The warning was intended to imperil no one, but it triggered a panic."
"Cutting the research budget imperiled the project's long-term viability."
Imperil is peril turned into action: it describes what puts life, safety, or prospects at risk.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does imperil come from?
Imperil developed in Middle English from an Anglo-French or medieval Latin form associated with danger and peril. Its underlying language family is connected to the Latin tradition from which English words such as peril and perilous also developed. In English, the verb eventually came to focus specifically on the act of exposing someone or something to danger.
Related word forms
How imperil is actually used
This is a formal and somewhat literary verb, especially associated with serious or elevated writing. In everyday speech, endanger or put at risk is usually more natural. The spelling with one l is standard in American English, while British usage may also occur with two l's in the inflected form imperilling.
Easily confused with imperil
Imperil means to endanger, whereas imperial relates to an empire, a monarch, or imperial authority.
Peril is a noun meaning danger, while imperil is a verb meaning to put someone or something in danger.