Meanings
threatening1
comparative more threatening · superlative most threatening · alternative threatning
- Presenting a threat, posing a likely risk of harm.
Never turn your back to someone who is displaying threatening behavior.
1 more example
Fie, fie, vnknit that thretaning vnkinde brovv, / And dart not ſcornefull glances from thoſe eies, / To vvound thy Lord, thy King, thy Gouernour.
c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 229, column 1 - Making threats, making statements about a willingness to cause harm.
threatening2
plural threatenings · alternative threatning
- countableuncountableAn act of threatening; a threat.
And nowe lorde beholde their threatenyngꝭ / and graunte vnto thy ſervauntꝭ wyth all confydence to ſpeake thy worde.
1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts iiij:[29], folio clix, recto1 more example
In Mr. J. C. Hotten’s Life, and in Mr. A. W. Ward’s admirable monograph in the “English Men of Letters” Series, a paper of mine called “Pincher Astray” is attributed to Dickens.
Edmund Yates (1884), “A Dickens Chapter”, in Edmund Yates: His Recollections and Experiences, volume II, London: Richard Bentley and Son, page 111
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivethreatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
threatening · verb, adjective
- Middle Englishthretenyng
- Englishthreatening
From Middle English thretenyng, þreteninde, equivalent to threaten + -ing.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →threatening · noun
- Middle Englishthretenyng
- Englishthreatening
From Middle English thretenyng, thretnynge, þretnynge, equivalent to threaten + -ing.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀπειλητικός
- ἀπειλητικός (apeilētikós)presenting a threat
Bulgarian заплашителен
- заплашителен (zaplašitelen)presenting a threat
Catalan amenaçador
- amenaçadorpresenting a threat
Chinese Mandarin 威脅的 /威胁的
- 威脅的 /威胁的 (wēixié de)presenting a threat
Finnish uhkaava
- uhkaavapresenting a threat
French menaçant
- menaçantpresenting a threat
German drohend
- drohendpresenting a threat
Greek απειλητικός
- απειλητικός (apeilitikós)presenting a threat
Latin minax, minitābundus
- minaxpresenting a threat
- minitābunduspresenting a threat
Māori hākiwakiwa, pōkerekere
- hākiwakiwapresenting a threat
- pōkerekerepresenting a threat
- pōrukurukupresenting a threat
- whakawetiwetipresenting a threat
- whakawehiwehipresenting a threat
- whakahakahakapresenting a threat
- takarekopresenting a threat
- paroropresenting a threat
Norwegian Bokmål truende
- truendepresenting a threat
Polish arcygroźny
- arcygroźnypresenting a threat
Portuguese ameaçador
- ameaçadorpresenting a threat
Romanian amenințător
- amenințătorpresenting a threat
Russian угрожа́ющий
- угрожа́ющий (ugrožájuščij)presenting a threat
Swedish hotfull
- hotfullpresenting a threat
Ukrainian загро́зливий, погро́зливий
- загро́зливий (zahrózlyvyj)presenting a threat
- погро́зливий (pohrózlyvyj)presenting a threat
Cite this entry
threatening. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/threatening
“threatening.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/threatening. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “threatening,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/threatening.
Source: threatening on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.