Synonyms of menace

menace 1 of 4

noun

ˈme-nəs 

as in threat

something that may cause injury or harm

a loaded gun is a menace that this household doesn't need

Synonyms & Similar Words

• threat
• danger
• risk
• peril
• hazard
• imminence
• trouble
• pitfall
• snare
• trap
• booby trap

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• protection
• guard
• ward
• shield
• harbor
• safeguard
• refuge
• shelter
• retreat
• asylum
• haven

menace

2 of 4

verb (1)

1

as in to endanger

to place in danger

menaced the children by leaving them in the car unattended

Synonyms & Similar Words

• endanger
• threaten
• risk
• adventure
• compromise
• jeopardize
• hazard
• peril
• imperil
• venture
• jeopard
• gamble (with)
• intimidate
• subject
• expose
• chance
• wager

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• protect
• guard
• shelter
• save
• preserve
• shield
• resume

2

as in to threaten

to remain poised to inflict harm, danger, or distress on

stockpiles of nuclear weapons that continue to menace the inhabitants of this planet

Synonyms & Similar Words

• threaten
• hang (over)
• endanger
• overhang
• hover (over)
• impend (over)
• jeopardize
• peril
• imperil
• hazard

menacing

3 of 4

adjective

1

as in ominous

being or showing a sign of evil or calamity to come

warns that the emergence of new viruses is one of the most menacing developments we face

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ominous
• sinister
• threatening
• bleak
• dark
• somber
• foreboding
• portentous
• murky
• lonely
• darkening
• minatory
• black
• baleful
• dire
• desolate
• direful
• inauspicious
• depressive
• gray
• ill
• unfortunate
• depressing
• doomy
• ill-boding
• cold
• morbid
• unfavorable
• sullen
• dim
• saturnine
• morose
• gloomy
• lugubrious
• cheerless
• sepulchral
• lonesome
• discouraging
• elegiac
• troubled
• dismal
• forlorn
• disconsolate
• funereal
• glum
• dreary
• evil
• chill
• hopeless
• unpromising
• miserable
• malignant
• drear
• comfortless
• cloudy
• unpropitious
• disheartening
• tenebrous
• malign
• plutonian
• godforsaken
• wretched
• Cimmerian
• unlucky
• dreich
• sunless
• tenebrific
• ill-fated
• ill-starred
• star-crossed

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• favorable
• benign
• bright
• promising
• unthreatening
• golden
• encouraging
• prosperous
• hopeful
• auspicious
• propitious
• heartening

2

as in dangerous

involving potential loss or injury

fears that the unemployment rate may be reaching menacing proportions

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dangerous
• hazardous
• perilous
• risky
• serious
• threatening
• unsafe
• treacherous
• precarious
• grave
• unhealthy
• grievous
• venturesome
• random
• destructive
• parlous
• uncertain
• unpleasant
• jeopardizing
• fatal
• harmful
• detrimental
• sickening
• lethal
• insecure
• murderous
• deadly
• ugly
• adverse
• bad
• evil
• malignant
• killer
• nasty
• haphazard
• wicked
• chance
• distressing
• pernicious
• noxious
• dicey
• injurious
• baleful
• fell
• deleterious
• inimical
• baneful
• hurtful
• dire
• ultrahazardous
• ill
• fateful
• mortal
• deathly
• pestilent

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• harmless
• innocuous
• innocent
• safe
• nonthreatening
• good
• beneficial
• unthreatening
• nonhazardous
• advantageous
• ultrasafe

menacing

4 of 4

verb (2)

present participle of menace

1

as in endangering

to place in danger

menaced the children by leaving them in the car unattended

Synonyms & Similar Words

• endangering
• threatening
• risking
• compromising
• jeopardizing
• intimidating
• imperiling
• gambling (with)
• venturing
• periling
• hazarding
• jeoparding
• adventuring
• subjecting
• exposing
• wagering
• chancing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• protecting
• guarding
• shielding
• preserving
• saving
• sheltering
• resuming

2

as in threatening

to remain poised to inflict harm, danger, or distress on

stockpiles of nuclear weapons that continue to menace the inhabitants of this planet

Synonyms & Similar Words

• threatening
• hanging (over)
• endangering
• hovering (over)
• impending (over)
• overhanging
• jeopardizing
• imperiling
• periling
• hazarding

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of menace

Noun

The Valkyries post player has been a menace in the paint and has blocked or cut off several of the Dream’s looks at the rim. — Lauren Williams, AJC.com, 20 Oct. 2026

The viral video calling data centers a menace was uploaded to a data center. — Zev Laine, Forbes.com, 20 Oct. 2026

Verb

Dennis Hopper won a Best Villain MTV Movie Award for menacing a bus in this film. — Hanna Rosin, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2026

Wallick believed Martinez-Sarmiento had retrieved a weapon from a car and was going to menace others outside the nightclub, the district attorney’s office said. — Judith Kohler, Denver Post, 24 June 2026

Adjective

The police spokesperson said Perez was taken into custody without incident and charged with menacing and criminal possession of a weapon. — Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026

The Melbourne duo taps into trip-hop’s essential strangeness on its latest album, trading the genre’s boilerplate languor for dejected moods, menacing auras, and slippery, all-consuming bass. — Sam Goldner, Pitchfork, 27 Oct. 2026

Verb

The midterm elections are looming and the first hurricane of the Atlantic Season is menacing the Gulf Coast. — Will Weissert, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026

Dennis Hopper won a Best Villain MTV Movie Award for menacing a bus in this film. — Hanna Rosin, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2026