threaten

threat·en
T1H4R1E1A1T1E1N1
US, UK/ˈθɹɛt.n̩/US, UK[ˈθɹɛt.n̩]US, UK[ˈθɹɛʔ.n̩]

verb

To make a threat against someone; to use threats.

“He threatened me with a knife.”

Similar
endangerjeopardizejeopardisemenaceimperilperil
Opposite
promise
OriginMiddle English thretenen ← Old English þrēatnian →
CommonScrabble 11
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Meanings

verbthreaten (third-person singular simple present threatens, present participle threatening, simple past and past participle threatened)

present singular third person threatens · participle present threatening · participle past threatened · past threatened

  1. To make a threat against someone; to use threats.

    He threatened me with a knife.

    2 more examples

    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.

    1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Hocussing of Cigarette”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020

    "Taiwanese are very enthusiastic and love freedom and democracy, so many good international friends have come to Taiwan to support us. This is a normal and good thing, but China threatens and intimidates Taiwan," she said. "However, I would like to reassure everyone that both our government and the military are prepared, and I will definitely take care of Taiwan."

    2022 August 13, Sarah Wu, David Kirton, Ben Blanchard, quoting Tsai Ing-wen, “Taiwan thanks U.S. for maintaining security in Taiwan Strait”, in Tom Hogue, Michael Perry, William Mallard, editors, Reuters, archived from the original on 13 Aug 2022, World
  2. To menace, or be dangerous.

    The rocks threatened the ship's survival.

  3. To portend, or give a warning of.

    The black clouds threatened heavy rain.

    Antonyms: promise

  4. To call into question the validity of (a belief, idea, or viewpoint); to challenge.

    The new information threatened our original hypothesis.

  5. figurativelyTo be close to equaling or surpassing (a record, etc.); to challenge.

    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.

    2000, Lew Freedman, Diamonds in the Rough: Baseball Stories from Alaska, page 69

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo portend, or give a warning of.

Opposite
promise

More synonyms by meaning

verbpose a threat to; present a danger to

Similar
endangerjeopardizejeopardisemenaceimperilperil
Broader
existbe
Also see
driveendangerimperiljeopardizemenaceperil

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Old Englishþrēatnian“to urge, force, compel”
  2. Middle Englishthretenen
  3. Englishthreaten

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

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἀπειλέω
  • ἀπειλέω (apeiléō)to make a threat against someone; to use threats
Arabic هَدَّدَ, أَنْذَرَ
  • هَدَّدَ (haddada)to make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • أَنْذَرَ (ʔanḏara)to portend, or give a warning of
Basque mehatxatu
  • mehatxatuto make a threat against someone; to use threats
Bulgarian запла́швам, заплашвам
  • запла́швам (zaplášvam)to make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • заплашвам (zaplašvam)to menace, or be dangerous
  • заканвам се (zakanvam se)to portend, or give a warning of
Catalan amenaçar, amenaçar
  • amenaçarto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • amenaçarto menace, or be dangerous
  • amenaçarto portend, or give a warning of
Chinese Mandarin 威脅 /威胁, 恐嚇 /恐吓
  • 威脅 /威胁 (wēixié)to make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • 恐嚇 /恐吓 (kǒnghè)to make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • 威脅 /威胁 (wēixié)to menace, or be dangerous
  • 恐嚇 /恐吓 (kǒnghè)to menace, or be dangerous
  • 有...危險 /有...危险 (yǒu...wéixiǎn)to menace, or be dangerous
Czech hrozit, vyhrožovat
  • hrozitto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • vyhrožovatto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • ohrožovatto menace, or be dangerous
  • ohrozitto menace, or be dangerous
Danish true
  • trueto make a threat against someone; to use threats
Dutch bedreigen, dreigen
  • bedreigento make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • dreigento make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • bedreigento menace, or be dangerous
Esperanto minaci, minaci
  • minacito make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • minacito menace, or be dangerous
Estonian ähvardama, ähvardama
  • ähvardamato make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • ähvardamato menace, or be dangerous
  • ähvardamato portend, or give a warning of
Finnish uhkailla, uhata
  • uhkaillato make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • uhatato menace, or be dangerous
  • vaarantaato menace, or be dangerous
  • enteilläto portend, or give a warning of
  • uhatato portend, or give a warning of
French menacer, menacer
  • menacerto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • menacerto menace, or be dangerous
German drohen, bedrohen
  • drohento make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • bedrohento make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • bedrohento menace, or be dangerous
  • androhento portend, or give a warning of
Greek απειλώ
  • απειλώ (apeiló)to make a threat against someone; to use threats
Hebrew איים
  • אייםto make a threat against someone; to use threats
Hindi धमकाना
  • धमकाना (dhamkānā)to make a threat against someone; to use threats
Hungarian fenyeget
  • fenyegetto make a threat against someone; to use threats
Irish bagair, bagair
  • bagairto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • bagairto menace, or be dangerous
  • bagairto portend, or give a warning of
Italian minacciare, impaurire
  • minacciareto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • impaurireto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • minacciareto menace, or be dangerous
  • intimidireto menace, or be dangerous
  • avvisareto portend, or give a warning of
  • promettereto portend, or give a warning of
Japanese 脅す, 脅迫する
  • 脅す (odosu)to make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • 脅迫する (kyōhaku suru)to make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • 脅かすto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • 脅かすto menace, or be dangerous
  • 威嚇する (ikaku suru)to menace, or be dangerous
  • 威嚇する (ikaku suru)to portend, or give a warning of
Korean 위협하다, 협박하다
  • 위협하다 (wihyeophada)to make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • 협박하다 (hyeopbakhada)to make a threat against someone; to use threats
Latin minor, minitor
  • minorto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • minitorto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • instoto menace, or be dangerous
Malay ugut, ancam
  • ugutto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • ancamto menace, or be dangerous
Māori wananga, takutaku
  • wanangato make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • takutakuto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • kapatauto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • whakawetito make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • whakahakahakato make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • wanangato menace, or be dangerous
  • whakahakahakato menace, or be dangerous
  • kapatauto portend, or give a warning of
  • hākiwakiwato portend, or give a warning of
  • takarekoto portend, or give a warning of
Norwegian Bokmål true, true
  • trueto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • trueto menace, or be dangerous
  • trueto portend, or give a warning of
Persian تهدید کردن
  • تهدید کردن (tahdid kardan)to make a threat against someone; to use threats
Polish grozić, pogrozić
  • grozićto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • pogrozićto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • grozićto menace, or be dangerous
  • zagrozićto menace, or be dangerous
  • zagrażaćto menace, or be dangerous
  • grozićto portend, or give a warning of
  • pogrozićto portend, or give a warning of
Portuguese ameaçar, ameaçar
  • ameaçarto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • ameaçarto menace, or be dangerous
  • ameaçarto portend, or give a warning of
Romanian amenința
  • amenințato make a threat against someone; to use threats
Russian грози́ть, угрожа́ть
  • грози́ть (grozítʹ)to make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • угрожа́ть (ugrožátʹ)to make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • грози́ть (grozítʹ)to menace, or be dangerous
  • угрожа́ть (ugrožátʹ)to menace, or be dangerous
  • предвеща́ть (predveščátʹ)to portend, or give a warning of
Scottish Gaelic maoidh
  • maoidhto make a threat against someone; to use threats
Slovak hroziť
  • hroziťto make a threat against someone; to use threats
Spanish conminar, amagar
  • conminarto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • amagarto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • amagarto menace, or be dangerous
  • amagarto portend, or give a warning of
Swedish hota
  • hotato make a threat against someone; to use threats
Tagalog pagbantaan, balaan
  • pagbantaanto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • balaanto make a threat against someone; to use threats
Thai ขู่, คุกคาม
  • ขู่ (kùu)to make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • คุกคามto menace, or be dangerous
Turkish gözünü korkutmak, tehdit etmek
  • gözünü korkutmakto make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • tehdit etmekto make a threat against someone; to use threats
Ukrainian погро́жувати, загро́жувати
  • погро́жувати (pohróžuvaty)to make a threat against someone; to use threats
  • загро́жувати (zahróžuvaty)to menace, or be dangerous
Vietnamese doạ
  • doạto make a threat against someone; to use threats
Cite this entry
APA

threaten. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/threaten

MLA

“threaten.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/threaten. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “threaten,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/threaten.

Source: threaten on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.