# threatening

Pronunciation: say "THRET-uh-ning" /ˈθɹɛtə.nɪŋ/

## Adjective

1. Posing a likely risk of harm; presenting danger to someone or something.
   - Simple: Likely to cause harm or danger to someone or something.
   - _The flooding river became increasingly threatening to the village downstream._
   - _A threatening shadow loomed across the narrow alley._
2. Making threats; expressing a willingness to cause harm to someone.
   - Simple: Saying that you want to hurt or harm someone.
   - _Police investigated the threatening letters mailed to the mayor._
   - _She reported his threatening behavior to her supervisor._

## Verb

3. Present participle of threaten. — present participle and gerund of threaten
   - Simple: Present participle of threaten. Use this form for something happening right now.
   - _The company is threatening legal action against its rival._
   - _Rising sea levels are threatening coastal towns around the world._

## Noun

4. The action of making a threat; a warning of an intent to cause harm.
   - Simple: The act of warning someone that you will hurt or harm them.
   - _Threatening of jurors can lead to a mistrial._
   - _The statute criminalizes the threatening of government workers._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3** — From Middle English thretenyng, þreteninde, equivalent to 'threaten' plus the suffix '-ing'.
**Meaning 4** — From Middle English thretenyng, thretnynge, þretnynge, equivalent to 'threaten' plus the suffix '-ing'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/threatening (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).