Synonyms
Examples of peril in a Sentence
Johanna McGeary, Time, 25 Oct. 2004
One lesson of both the law-school and the Paulin controversies may be the peril of making free-speech judgments at Internet speed.
—Jeffrey Toobin, New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2003
The old man rose and towered over Cameron, and then plunged down upon him, and clutched at his throat with terrible stifling hands. The harsh contact, the pain awakened Cameron to his peril before it was too late.
—Zane Grey, Desert Gold, 1913
People are unaware of the peril these miners face each day.
She described global warming as “a growing peril.”
Verb
… she did more harm than all Frederick's diplomacy could repair, and perilled her chance of her inheritance like a giddy heedless creature as she was.
—William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, 1848
a tribute to the men and women who, as firefighters, peril their lives daily
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Matt O'Brien, Fortune, 18 Nov. 2023
Her friends, likewise, discover that however snooty American old money might be (as seen concurrently on the second season of HBO’s The Gilded Age), the pretensions and perils of the British upper class are on another level entirely.
—Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Nov. 2023
Criminal-defense attorneys advise their clients not to testify because of the perils of cross-examination.
—WSJ, 26 Oct. 2023
Two authors doing pioneering research into the perils and possibilities of artificial intelligence will join the L.A. Times Book Club on Tuesday night.
—Times Staff, Los Angeles Times, 14 Nov. 2023
On Season 2, the vast metaphysical bureaucracy of the Time Variance Authority — which Loki has come to think of as his second home — becomes catastrophically overburdened by the multiverse, placing everyone Loki has come to hold dear in existential peril.
—Adam B. Vary, Variety, 13 Nov. 2023
Some of the paintings are large, and even the smaller ones amplify simple stalks and roots into parables of ecological peril and promise.
—Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2023
Here, design pros weigh in on the pleasures and perils of having your own upholstered cave.
—Molly Collett, WSJ, 27 Oct. 2023
The United States has performed poorly in this regard—a deficiency that is a symptom of its domestic politics rather than of the perils of globalized trade.
—Ryan Hass, Foreign Affairs, 24 Oct. 2023
Ed Stockly, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2023
But peril still awaits.
—Laura Kingstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2023
Our moment is full of promise and also peril.
—Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, The New Yorker, 6 Aug. 2021
Biden is no stranger to peril.
—David Harsanyi, National Review, 18 Sep. 2020
That approach, unvetted, could lead you to peril.
—Tom Stienstra, SFChronicle.com, 10 Sep. 2020
That sense of purpose turned to peril in 2016 when the Taliban threatened him with death, accusing him of spying against them in a letter bearing their military insignia.
—Dallas News, 14 Mar. 2022
There is beauty, though indeed also peril, in our changing seasons.
—cleveland, 23 Dec. 2022
But wandering in those spacious landscapes can also lead to peril.
—Robert Gauthier, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2022
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'peril.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun
Middle English, borrowed from Anglo-French, going back to Latin perīculum "test, trial, risk, danger," going back to *perei-tlom, from *perei- (of uncertain origin) + *-tlom, instrumental suffix (going back to Indo-European)
Note: Latin perīculum has traditionally been explained as a derivative from a proposed Indo-European verbal base *per- "test, risk," seen also in perītus "practiced, experienced," experior, experīrī "to put to the test, attempt, have experience of, undergo" (see experience entry 1) and opperior, opperīrī "to wait, wait for"; these have been compared with Greek peîra "trial, attempt, experience," peiráomai, peirâsthai "to make a trial of, attempt," émpeiros "experienced" (see empiric)—going back to *per-i̯a—and more tentatively with Germanic *fērō "pursuit, danger" (see fear entry 2). This *per- "test, risk" is then taken further as a semantic derivative of *per- "cross, pass" (see fare entry 1). Alternatively, if the formative -i- represents the Indo-European present-tense suffix *-ei̯-/-i-, Latin peri-/perī- in these words fits naturally with Indo-European *perh3-/pr̥h3- "bring forth, give rise to, produce" (if taken as a middle verb "give rise to within oneself, experience, undergo"), with *pr̥h3-i- yielding Latin pariō, parere "to give birth to" (see parturient entry 1) and *perh3-ei̯- yielding the per-ī- of perīculum, etc. It is unclear if the base of experior and opperior contains par- or per-, as the simplex verb is not attested. (Cf. Michiel de Vaan, "PIE i-presents, s-presents, and their reflexes in Latin," Glotta, Band 87 [2011], pp. 23-36.)
Verb
derivative of peril entry 1
Noun
13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
1567, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing peril
Dictionary Entries Near peril
Cite this Entry
“Peril.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peril. Accessed 30 Nov. 2023.
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noun
More from Merriam-Webster on peril
Nglish: Translation of peril for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of peril for Arabic Speakers
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