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Glite Dictionary
⚠️ To endanger 😠 To intimidate
to threaten

to threaten

987 3.3
To tell someone you will hurt them to make them afraid
  • verb
  • /ˈθrɛtən/
translation icon : amenazar
  • In Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan, Islamic insurgents threaten to take power and offer safe haven to terrorists.
  • feel threatened
  • threaten to kill
  • threaten violence

It's not just that they're threatening their jobs, they're threatening them.

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Examples

  • Some administrators subtly threaten teachers with job security when they fail too many students.

    Academic text (1990)

  • You cannot threaten people to accept you.

  • The idiot threatened to kill me.

    Detention (2003)

  • So you really think you can buy my silence, just by threatening my career?

    The Month of August (2002)

  • Smith rushed to the fairgrounds, threatened to arrest the speculators, and suspended the game.

    Academic text (1990)

  • As co-chairmen of The Anti-Appeasement Alliance, they accused the president of threatening the country with another Munich.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Meanwhile, while they're up north, Poland threatens to invade Ukraine.

  • If you continue to insult me, I will have to threaten you with legal action.

  • The bully would always threaten the weaker kids at school.

  • She decided to threaten him with a report to the authorities if he didn't stop.

Synonyms

to intimidate
vsto threaten
294 4.9

To frighten someone so they do what you want

states intent to harm to scare or pressure rather than only causing fear
to coerce
vsto threaten
  • Offensive
91 6.4

Force someone to do something by threats

expresses intent to cause harm mainly to scare rather than ensure compliance
to bully
vsto threaten
  • Offensive
68 3.8

To scare or hurt someone, often someone weaker

is a general declaration of intent to harm not limited to weaker victims
to menace
vsto threaten
19 4.6

To threaten people or places with harm

is a clear statement of intent to cause harm to scare or pressure someone
to strong-arm
vsto threaten
  • NSFW
15 7.5

To force someone to do something by threats or violence

states intent to harm to scare rather than apply actual force
to make a threat
vsto threaten
  • Offensive
6 4.2

Tell someone you will hurt them to frighten them

is the same meaning but said as a phrase rather than a single verb

Antonyms

to comfort
172 1.0

To make someone feel less upset or in pain

to reassure
163 3.4

To make someone feel less worried and more confident

How Threatening

to terrorize
  • NSFW
145 6.7
to intimidate
294 4.9
to threaten
987 3.3
to menace
19 4.6
to warn
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

threaten infinitive
threatened past
threatened past participle
threatening present participle
threatens third person singular

Morphology

threaten = threat (transparent) = threat + en

The action of making a 'threat' is directly expressed by adding the productive suffix '-en' to the noun.

Etymology

Threaten comes from the same old English root þreatian, meaning 'to press' or 'crowd'. A helpful image is that to threaten someone is to 'press' them with words — saying you will harm them to frighten or force them.