threatening
adjective
threat·en·ing ˈthret-niŋ 
ˈthre-tᵊn-iŋ
: expressing or suggesting a threat of harm, danger, etc.
received a threatening message
a threatening manner
: indicating or suggesting the approach of possible trouble or danger saw threatening clouds on the horizon
threateningly
ˈthret-niŋ-lē
adverb ˈthre-tᵊn-iŋ-
gestured threateningly
Synonyms
- imminent
- impending
- looming
- pending
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Bursey allegedly sent a threatening email to multiple staff members at UC Berkeley on Thursday morning, according to court documents filed in Alameda County. 
Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2022 With his plea Monday, Harris admitted sending a threatening email to Wen in July. Alex Mann, baltimoresun.com, 7 Feb. 2022 Um, did anyone else get a threatening email from Proud Boys about voting? NBC news, 20 Oct. 2020 Popkin credits the law with helping avert a threat to a high school in Bethesda, Md., in late 2018, when a judge issued an emergency order against a student who allegedly made threatening statements on Snapchat. Scott Macfarlane, CBS News, 6 June 2022 Law enforcement officials said Sunday that New York State Police troopers had been called to Gendron’s high school last June for a report that the then-17-year-old had made threatening statements. Michael Balsamo, BostonGlobe.com, 16 May 2022 Law enforcement officials said Sunday that New York State Police troopers had been called to Gendron’s high school last June for a report that the then-17-year-old had made threatening statements. Carolyn Thompson And Michael Balsamo, Chicago Tribune, 16 May 2022 Law enforcement officials revealed Sunday that New York State Police troopers had been called to Gendron’s high school last June, for a report that Gendron, then 17, had made threatening statements. Carolyn Thompson And Michael Balsamo, Anchorage Daily News, 16 May 2022 New York State Police said troopers were called to the school on June 8, 2021, for a report that a 17-year-old student had made threatening statements. John Bacon, USA TODAY, 16 May 2022 See More
Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2022 With his plea Monday, Harris admitted sending a threatening email to Wen in July. Alex Mann, baltimoresun.com, 7 Feb. 2022 Um, did anyone else get a threatening email from Proud Boys about voting? NBC news, 20 Oct. 2020 Popkin credits the law with helping avert a threat to a high school in Bethesda, Md., in late 2018, when a judge issued an emergency order against a student who allegedly made threatening statements on Snapchat. Scott Macfarlane, CBS News, 6 June 2022 Law enforcement officials said Sunday that New York State Police troopers had been called to Gendron’s high school last June for a report that the then-17-year-old had made threatening statements. Michael Balsamo, BostonGlobe.com, 16 May 2022 Law enforcement officials said Sunday that New York State Police troopers had been called to Gendron’s high school last June for a report that the then-17-year-old had made threatening statements. Carolyn Thompson And Michael Balsamo, Chicago Tribune, 16 May 2022 Law enforcement officials revealed Sunday that New York State Police troopers had been called to Gendron’s high school last June, for a report that Gendron, then 17, had made threatening statements. Carolyn Thompson And Michael Balsamo, Anchorage Daily News, 16 May 2022 New York State Police said troopers were called to the school on June 8, 2021, for a report that a 17-year-old student had made threatening statements. John Bacon, USA TODAY, 16 May 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1530, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing threatening
threatening 1 of 2
adjective
1
as in impending
giving signs of immediate occurrence economists warning of a threatening recession Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- impending
- looming
- approaching
- possible
- coming
- imminent
- brewing
- around the corner
- pending
- future
- menacing
- nearing
- oncoming
- gathering
- probable
- inevitable
- ominous
- upcoming
- likely
- predicted
- forthcoming
- unavoidable
- near
- lowering
- apocalyptic
- expected
- portentous
- anticipated
- awaited
- apocalyptical
- foreseen
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- distant
- remote
- eventual
- past
- ultimate
- far-off
- former
- recent
- late
- bygone
2
as in ominous
being or showing a sign of evil or calamity to come a threatening silence followed the loud thump in the adjoining motel room Synonyms & Similar Words
- ominous
- sinister
- menacing
- darkening
- bleak
- foreboding
- dark
- dire
- ill
- minatory
- lonely
- portentous
- somber
- black
- murky
- inauspicious
- depressing
- direful
- desolate
- unfortunate
- baleful
- depressive
- unfavorable
- ill-boding
- gray
- doomy
- discouraging
- cold
- morbid
- troubled
- dim
- morose
- disheartening
- sullen
- gloomy
- cheerless
- chill
- grey
- godforsaken
- dismal
- lonesome
- saturnine
- malign
- sepulchral
- miserable
- disconsolate
- lugubrious
- funereal
- elegiac
- plutonian
- evil
- malignant
- glum
- unpropitious
- hopeless
- unpromising
- dreary
- drear
- forlorn
- cloudy
- elegiacal
- sombre
- comfortless
- tenebrous
- unlucky
- wretched
- sunless
- tenebrific
- dreich
- ill-fated
- Cimmerian
- ill-starred
- star-crossed
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- promising
- encouraging
- favorable
- unthreatening
- benign
- hopeful
- prosperous
- bright
- golden
- propitious
- auspicious
- heartening
3
as in dangerous
involving potential loss or injury threatening rocks lined that narrow stretch of the river through which we would be rafting Synonyms & Similar Words
- dangerous
- hazardous
- risky
- perilous
- serious
- menacing
- unsafe
- jeopardizing
- precarious
- treacherous
- unhealthy
- grave
- destructive
- detrimental
- grievous
- harmful
- random
- uncertain
- unpleasant
- fatal
- adverse
- parlous
- chance
- sickening
- insecure
- venturesome
- lethal
- bad
- deadly
- fell
- injurious
- distressing
- murderous
- killer
- dicey
- malignant
- nasty
- ugly
- evil
- hurtful
- pernicious
- deleterious
- haphazard
- inimical
- noxious
- wicked
- dire
- ill
- ultrahazardous
- fateful
- mortal
- deathly
- baneful
- baleful
- pestilent
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- harmless
- nonthreatening
- safe
- innocuous
- beneficial
- innocent
- unthreatening
- good
- advantageous
- nonhazardous
- ultrasafe
threatening
2 of 2verb
as in menacing
to remain poised to inflict harm, danger, or distress on the powerful hurricane continues to threaten the southern coastline Synonyms & Similar Words
- menacing
- endangering
- jeopardizing
- imperiling
- overhanging
- imperilling
- perilling
- periling
- impending (over)
- hazarding
- hanging (over)
- hovering (over)