Synonyms of threatening

threatening 1 of 2

adjective

ˈthret-niŋ 

1

as in impending

giving signs of immediate occurrence

economists warning of a threatening recession

Synonyms & Similar Words

• impending
• looming
• possible
• imminent
• approaching
• brewing
• coming
• around the corner
• future
• pending
• nearing
• probable
• inevitable
• upcoming
• menacing
• forthcoming
• predicted
• ominous
• gathering
• likely
• unavoidable
• oncoming
• near
• apocalyptic
• expected
• anticipated
• portentous
• foreseen
• awaited
• lowering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• distant
• remote
• past
• eventual
• ultimate
• former
• far-off
• recent
• late
• bygone

2

as in ominous

being or showing a sign of evil or calamity to come

a threatening silence followed the loud thump in the adjoining motel room

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

3

as in dangerous

involving potential loss or injury

threatening rocks lined that narrow stretch of the river through which we would be rafting

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

threatening

2 of 2

verb

present participle of threaten

as in menacing

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

the powerful hurricane continues to threaten the southern coastline

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of threatening

Adjective

The Kia driver sustained minor injuries on his hands, while two girls from the volleyball team were taken to Norton Children’s Hospital for evaluation of non-life threatening injuries. — Caroline Neal, Louisville Courier Journal, 27 Aug. 2026

In connection with the beheading threat, he was arrested on suspicion of making an interstate threatening communication. — Emerson Clarridge, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Aug. 2026

Verb

Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman warned at the United Nations Thursday that Yemen’s internal collapse is increasingly threatening interests far beyond its borders. — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 16 Aug. 2026

The reports quickly changed, indicating that the fire was growing and threatening a South Dallas community. — S.e. Jenkins, CBS News, 16 Aug. 2026