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 threats …—
Salman Rushdie
Salman RushdieExamples of empty threat in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
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
The ban wasn’t an empty threat or an isolated incident.
—Yusuf Khan, WSJ, 1 June 2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear saber rattling during the war has alarmed the US and its allies, though officials have repeatedly dismissed the moves as empty threats.
—Nectar Gan, CNN, 23 Feb. 2023
It’s used them highly successfully without firing them, by trading on empty threats about potential nuclear strikes to very effectively deter the West from fully supporting Ukraine against Russia’s imperialist war.
—Keir Giles, CNN, 30 Mar. 2023
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
The ban wasn’t an empty threat or an isolated incident.
—Yusuf Khan, WSJ, 1 June 2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear saber rattling during the war has alarmed the US and its allies, though officials have repeatedly dismissed the moves as empty threats.
—Nectar Gan, CNN, 23 Feb. 2023
It’s used them highly successfully without firing them, by trading on empty threats about potential nuclear strikes to very effectively deter the West from fully supporting Ukraine against Russia’s imperialist war.
—Keir Giles, CNN, 30 Mar. 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 23 Apr. 2024.
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