What does "threaten" mean?

To make a threat against someone; to use threats.

What is a synonym for "threaten"?

Common synonyms include: endanger, abuse, admonish, adumbrate, adventure, advise.

//ˈθɹɛt.n̩// verb

verb ·Common ·High school level

Verb

1
To make a threat against someone; to use threats.
"No one, however, would have anything to do with him, as Mr. Keeson's orders in those respects were very strict ; he had often threatened any one of his employés with instant dismissal if he found him in company with one of these touts."
2
to utter intentions of injury or punishment against wordnet
3
To menace, or be dangerous.
"The rocks threatened the ship's survival."
4
to be a menacing indication of something wordnet
5
To portend, or give a warning of.
"The black clouds threatened heavy rain."

Show 3 more definitions

6
pose a threat to; present a danger to wordnet
7
To call into question the validity of (a belief, idea, or viewpoint); to challenge.
"The new information threatened our original hypothesis."
8
To be close to equaling or surpassing (a record, etc.); to challenge. figuratively
"The player quickly surmised that things weren't kosher and the suddenly wiser ballplayer threatened the world record for the fifty-yard dash as he sought safety. As Reynolds dived into the van, Dietz and the other players rolled with laughter."

"It will threaten the prosperity of the town."

From Middle English thretenen, from Old English þrēatnian (“to urge, force, compel”), equivalent to threat + -en.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.