Synonyms of threatening

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threatening 1 of 2

adjective

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1

as in impending

giving signs of immediate occurrence

economists warning of a threatening recession

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

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

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

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

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

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

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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
• jeopardizing
• imperiling
• overhanging
• imperilling
• perilling
• periling
• impending (over)
• hazarding
• hanging (over)
• hovering (over)