menace

noun men·ace \ ˈme-nəs \

|Updated on: 9 Aug 2018

Examples: menace in a Sentence

Definition of menace

1 : a show of intention to inflict harm : threat

exploding in menaces and threats of vengeance
—George Meredith

2 a : one that represents a threat : danger

the intoxicated motorist is a menace to life and limb
—Wayne Hughes

b : an annoying person

her friends were beginning to find her a menace
—Guy McCrone

See menace defined for English-language learners

See menace defined for kids

Examples of menace in a Sentence

There was an atmosphere of menace in the city.
She could hear the menace in his voice.

Recent Examples of menace from the Web

The president has accused the mayor of being weak on terrorism; the mayor has called the president a menace to democracy, and also signed off on the flying of the giant balloon.

— New York Times, "Big Protests Greet Trump’s Visit to Britain," 12 July 2018
At the Nike camp in St. Louis, Love showed his ability to play on and off the ball and be a menace on defense.

— alex schiffer, kansascity, "Mizzou target Caleb Love fits Cuonzo Martin's bill of "positionless basketball"," 18 June 2018
The tiny creatures multiplied and soon proved a menace to the bird populations, eating their eggs and chicks.

— julissa treviño, Smithsonian, "South Georgia Island Is Officially Free of Its Bird-Killing Rodents," 10 May 2018
Mueller, a constant menace to the Leverkusen defence, netted his first on 52 minutes after good work from Thiago Alcantara, who hit their third eight minutes later.

— ryland james, chicagotribune.com, "German Cup Recap: League champs Bayern cruise past Leverkusen to reach final," 18 Apr. 2018
On the plus side, Jeffrey Dean Morgan's portrayal of Negan brought a major infusion of energy and genuine menace to the show -- a welcome jolt for any series this late in its run.

— brian lowry, CNN, "'The Walking Dead' finale mercifully brings Negan war to an end," 15 Apr. 2018
For all their whimsy, true animated GIFs are a menace of the modern mobile web.

— eric limer, Popular Mechanics, "The GIF Is Dead. Long Live the GIF.," 18 Aug. 2016
Just not much; his quiet menace was one of the best things about the movie.

— bill goodykoontz, azcentral, "'Sicario: Day of the Soldado' lacks ambition of the original," 28 June 2018
In the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom trailer, a Carnotaurus menaces Chris Pratt and his buddies before it’s swiftly dispatched by a T. rex.

— emma stefansky, GQ, "The Definitive Jurassic Park Dinosaur Power Rankings," 21 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'menace.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of menace

Middle English manace, from Anglo-French manace, menace, from Latin minacia, from minac-, minax threatening, from minari to threaten — more at mount

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year