empty threat

noun

: a threat that someone does not really mean
Don't make empty threats that you have no intention of backing up with action.
… the Witch of the West looks, in this scene anyhow, curiously frail and impotent, obliged to mouth empty threatsSalman Rushdie

Examples of empty threat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Verstappen’s words aren’t an empty threat Forbes Daily: Join over 1 million Forbes Daily subscribers and get our best stories, exclusive reporting and essential analysis of the day’s news in your inbox every weekday. Dan Cancian, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024 Losing your temper, and leveling empty threats against your battling brood. Melissa Willets, Parents, 29 June 2024 And the mounting challenge to Marcos Jr. and his allies in government is not necessarily an empty threat. Chad De Guzman, TIME, 26 June 2024 Ironically, when the dust settled, Chinese nationalists accused their government of making empty threats and not doing enough to stand up to the United States. Rohan Mukherjee, Foreign Affairs, 4 Apr. 2024 Journalist Yair Rosenberg suggested that Musk's posts could be an empty threat. Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 5 Sep. 2023 The union sees that as an empty threat, but is also dealing with growing restlessness among its A-list members. Gene Maddaus, Variety, 26 Oct. 2023 Last weekend, multiple synagogues in Rhode Island and Massachusetts faced what ended up being empty threats meant to instill fear among Jewish Americans living in the area. Kyle Morris, Fox News, 20 Oct. 2023 Friday's announcement is the latest in a series of empty threats by ECOWAS to forcefully restore democratic rule in Niger, say conflict analysts. Sam Mednick, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'empty threat.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near empty threat

Cite this Entry

“Empty threat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empty%20threat. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!