What does threaten mean?
To threaten means to announce or imply that harm, damage, punishment, or another serious adverse consequence may happen. The word can describe a deliberate warning intended to frighten or intimidate someone: a person may threaten to leave, retaliate, or take legal action. It can also describe a danger that is not intentional, as when a storm threatens a harvest or a shortage threatens public health. This makes threaten broader than simply a synonym of intimidate, because it can refer both to human hostile intentions and to impersonal risks. In everyday use, it often carries a serious or alarming connotation, especially when combined with words such as violence, death, war, or cancellation. The verb is normally followed by 'to' plus an infinitive or by 'someone or something with' plus the threatened consequence. It is useful in both precise reporting and dramatic description because it captures not only the possibility of harm but also the sense that the harm is being anticipated or presented as imminent.
verbTo state an intention to inflict harm, damage, punishment, or other adverse consequences on someone or something. It can also mean to make something or someone seem likely to be harmed or endangered.
- To state an intention to inflict harm, punishment, damage, or other adverse consequences on someone or something.
- To make someone feel fear or danger, especially by implying that a harmful outcome is possible.
- To be likely or liable to cause harm, damage, or adverse consequences.
"The approaching storm threatened to destroy the harvest."
"The warning threatened severe consequences for anyone who ignored it."
"Years of neglect threaten the building's structural integrity."
To threaten is to give danger a voice: it can turn an uncertain future into a promise of harm.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does threaten come from?
The word comes from Old English threatnian, meaning 'to threaten' or 'to menace,' and is related to the Old English noun threat. English threaten belongs to the Germanic vocabulary of expressing danger or hostility, although the precise development of its deeper roots is uncertain. In modern usage, the verb has broadened from making a threat to describing any serious danger that could cause harm.
Related word forms
How threaten is actually used
Threaten is commonly transitive: 'threaten someone with something' or 'threaten someone to do something.' It can also be used intransitively, as in 'He threatened to resign.' The word is generally serious and may imply either deliberate intimidation or an objectively serious danger. There is no major regional difference in standard usage.
Easily confused with threaten
Menace is often more intense and personal, especially when referring to a person who presents a clear danger, while threaten is broader and can refer to an intended or likely harm.