dangerous
/ˈdeɪn(d)ʒ(ə)rəs
/adjective
1Able or likely to cause harm or injury: a dangerous animal insecticides which are dangerous to the environment...
- It was very dark and the terrain was dangerous so it was decided that it was too dangerous to carry on with the search.
- The things he says are dangerous to certain members of our community.
- It is very dangerous to look directly into the sun.
Synonyms
menacing, threatening, treacherous;
savage, wild, vicious, murderous, desperate
rare minacious
1.1Likely to cause problems or to have adverse consequences: it is dangerous to convict on his evidence...
- It is at least as important to challenge the dangerous assumptions of their opponents.
- Vouchers are stigmatised by their opponents as a dangerous idea of the radical right.
- Both warn of the dangerous consequences of voting in favour of their opponents.
Synonyms
hazardous, perilous, risky, high-risk, fraught with danger, unsafe, uncertain, unpredictable, precarious, insecure, exposed, vulnerable, touch-and-go, chancy, tricky, treacherous;
breakneck, reckless, daredevil;
Scottish unchancy
informal warm, dicey, sticky, hairy
British informal dodgy
North American informal gnarly
Derivatives
dangerousness
/ noun ...- After the expiry of the tariff, continued detention depends on elements of dangerousness and risk associated with the objectives of the original sentence [for] murder.
- When the presumption is not displaced, there is no need for the trial judge to address the issue of whether the vehicle is operable or immovable and/or the issue of dangerousness.
- But there's no requirement that the law pull the wool over the public's eyes and hide the person's potential dangerousness.
Origin
Middle English (in the senses 'arrogant', 'fastidious', and 'difficult to please'): from Old French dangereus, from dangier (see danger).