jeopardize
verb
Did you know?
Jeopardize Has a Controversial History
Imagine you’re a contestant on a game show, and your task is to provide a question as a response to this statement from the host: “This word was once controversial, and in 1870 a grammarian called it ‘a foolish and intolerable word,’ a view shared by many 19th-century critics.” If you answered, “What is jeopardize?,” you might be going home with some money! The preferred word back then was jeopard, which first appeared in print in the 14th century. The upstart jeopardize didn’t arrive until the late 16th century, and took a while to catch on. In 1828, Noah Webster himself declared jeopardize to be “a modern word, used by respectable writers in America, but synonymous with jeopard, and therefore useless.” Unfortunately for the champions of jeopard, increased usage of jeopardize ultimately put the former word in jeopardy. Jeopard is now only rarely heard.
Examples of jeopardize in a Sentence
Arkansas Online, 11 Apr. 2026
GLP-1s can cause both fat loss and muscle loss, which can jeopardize overall health and functional movement.
—Jenessa Connor, Health, 10 Apr. 2026
Leavitt did not provide details about what Iran offered to change, and American officials are not saying much about their plan for fear that doing so could jeopardize talks with Iran.
—Will Weissert, Fortune, 9 Apr. 2026
Scientists caution that weakening these protections could jeopardize water security in arid regions and deplete the reserves that sustain river flows.
—Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for jeopardize
Cite this Entry
“Jeopardize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jeopardize. Accessed 16 Apr. 2026.
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