as in to threaten
to remain poised to inflict harm, danger, or distress on
after the first big layoff, the possibility of losing their jobs hovered over all of the factory's workers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hover (over)
threaten
Verb
-
Not long afterward, he was elected president on a platform deeply hostile to the West and its liberal ideology, and especially to the United States — threatening a hard fight in the event of war.—
Abbas Al Lawati,
CNN Money,
1 Mar. 2026 -
Ecologists have been trying to protect the delicate caves for years as development and pollution increasingly threaten the underwater waterways.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
1 Mar. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Hover (over).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hover%20%28over%29. Accessed 4 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
