Meanings
comparative more dangerous · comparative nonstandard dangerouser · superlative most dangerous · nonstandard superlative dangerousest · alternative obsolete daungerous
- Full of danger.
Railway crossings without gates are highly dangerous.
2 more examples
[I]t is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.
1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLCYoung Indians looking for work opportunities have made up a sizeable portion of undocumented migrants in the US, many after making the dangerous trek through Latin America to reach the US southern border.
2025 February 7, Esha Mitra, Aishwarya S Iyer and Ross Adkin, “‘Treated like criminals’: Shackling of Indians aboard 40-hour migrant flight sparks new outrage against Trump”, in CNNSynonyms: hazardous, perilous, risky, unsafe · Antonyms: safe
- Causing danger; ready to do harm or injury.
If they incline to think you dangerous, / They have their knaviſh Arts to make you ſo.
1696, Tho[mas] Southerne, Oroonoko: A Tragedy […], London: […] H[enry] Playford […]; B[enjamin] Tooke […]; [a]nd S. Buckley […], →OCLC, act III, scene ii, page 411 more example
And the Duke thought: The truth could be worse than he imagines, but even dangerous facts are valuable if you’ve been trained to deal with them. And there’s one place where nothing has been spared for my son—dealing with dangerous facts.
1965 October 1, Frank Herbert, “Book I: Dune”, in Dune, Philadelphia, Pa.: Chilton Book Company; [Toronto], Ont.: Thomas Nelson & Sons, →OCLC, page 42 - colloquialdatedIn a condition of danger, as from illness; threatened with death.
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveinvolving or causing danger or risk; liable to hurt or harm
adjectivecausing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Frenchdangereus“threatening, difficult”
- Anglo-Norman[Term?]
- Middle Englishdaungerous“difficult, severe, domineering, arrogant, fraught with danger”
- Englishdangerous
From Middle English daungerous (“difficult, severe, domineering, arrogant, fraught with danger”), dangerous, from Anglo-Norman [Term?], from Old French dangereus (“threatening, difficult”), from dangier. Equivalent to danger + -ous. Displaced native Old English frēcne.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans gevaarlik
- gevaarlikfull of danger
Ancient Greek ἐπικίνδυνος
- ἐπικίνδυνος (epikíndunos)full of danger
Arabic خَطِر
- خَطِر (ḵaṭir)full of danger
Basque arriskutsu
- arriskutsufull of danger
Bulgarian опа́сен, риско́ван
- опа́сен (opásen)full of danger
- риско́ван (riskóvan)full of danger
Catalan perillós, perillós
- perillósfull of danger
- perillóscausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
Chinese Cantonese 危險 /危险
- 危險 /危险 (ngai⁴ him²)full of danger
Chinese Mandarin 危險 /危险
- 危險 /危险 (wēixiǎn)full of danger
Czech nebezpečný
- nebezpečnýfull of danger
Danish farlig
- farligfull of danger
Dutch gevaarlijk, gevaarlijke
- gevaarlijkfull of danger
- gevaarlijkefull of danger
- gevaarlijkcausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
Esperanto danĝera
- danĝerafull of danger
Estonian ohtlik
- ohtlikfull of danger
Finnish vaarallinen, vaarallinen
- vaarallinenfull of danger
- vaarallinencausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
French dangereux, périlleux
- dangereuxfull of danger
- périlleuxfull of danger
- périculeuxfull of danger
- dangereuxcausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
German gefährlich, gefährlich
- gefährlichfull of danger
- gefährlichcausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
Greek επικίνδυνος
- επικίνδυνος (epikíndynos)full of danger
Hawaiian makaʻuloa, weliweli ʻia
- makaʻuloafull of danger
- weliweli ʻiafull of danger
Hebrew מסוכן \ מְסֻכָּן
- מסוכן \ מְסֻכָּן (m'sukan)full of danger
Hindi ख़तरनाक, जोखिमी
- ख़तरनाक (xatarnāk)full of danger
- जोखिमी (jokhimī)full of danger
Hungarian veszélyes
- veszélyesfull of danger
Icelandic hættulegur
- hættulegurfull of danger
Indonesian berbahaya, bahaya
- berbahayafull of danger
- bahayafull of danger
- membahayakancausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
Irish dáinséarach, contúirteach
- dáinséarachfull of danger
- contúirteachfull of danger
Italian pericoloso, pericoloso
- pericolosofull of danger
- pericolosocausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
- nocivocausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
Japanese 危険, 危ない
- 危険 (kiken)full of danger
- 危ない (abunai)full of danger
Korean 위험하다
- 위험하다 (wiheomhada)full of danger
Latin perīculōsus, periculosus
- perīculōsusfull of danger
- periculosuscausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
- nocivuscausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
Latvian bīstams
- bīstamsfull of danger
Lithuanian pavojingas
- pavojingasfull of danger
Malay berbahaya
- berbahayafull of danger
Māori mōrearea, whakawhara
- mōreareafull of danger
- whakawharacausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
Norwegian Bokmål farlig, farefull
- farligfull of danger
- farefullfull of danger
Persian خطرناک, ناامن
- خطرناک (xatarnâk)full of danger
- ناامن (nā-amn)full of danger
Polish niebezpieczny, groźny
- niebezpiecznyfull of danger
- groźnyfull of danger
- groźnycausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
Portuguese perigoso, perigoso
- perigosofull of danger
- perigosocausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
- nocivocausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
Romanian periculos
- periculosfull of danger
Russian опа́сный, риско́ванный
- опа́сный (opásnyj)full of danger
- риско́ванный (riskóvannyj)full of danger
Scottish Gaelic cunnartach
- cunnartachfull of danger
Slovak nebezpečný
- nebezpečnýfull of danger
Spanish peligroso, brígido
- peligrosofull of danger
- brígidofull of danger
- fortunalfull of danger
- peligrosocausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
- brígidocausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
- fortunalcausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
Swahili na hatari
- na hataricausing danger, ready to do harm or injury
Swedish farlig, farligt
- farligfull of danger
- farligtfull of danger
Tagalog mapanganib, delikado
- mapanganibfull of danger
- delikadofull of danger
Thai อันตราย
- อันตราย (an-dtà-raai)full of danger
Turkish tehlikeli
- tehlikelifull of danger
Ukrainian небезпе́чний
- небезпе́чний (nebezpéčnyj)full of danger
Urdu جوکھمی, خطرناک
- جوکھمی (jokhimī)full of danger
- خطرناک (xatarnāk)full of danger
Vietnamese nguy hiểm
- nguy hiểmfull of danger
Welsh peryglus
- peryglusfull of danger
Yiddish געפֿערלעך, סכּנהדיק
- געפֿערלעך (geferlekh)full of danger
- סכּנהדיק (sakonedik, sekonedik)full of danger
Cite this entry
dangerous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dangerous
“dangerous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dangerous. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dangerous,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dangerous.
Source: dangerous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.