as in endangers
to remain poised to inflict harm, danger, or distress on
the powerful hurricane continues to threaten the southern coastline
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Recent Examples of threatens
Season 3 finds Andrew Cooper (Hamm) doubling down on his life as an unlikely suburban thief, until the arrival of a new neighbor threatens to expose his secrets and place his family at risk.
—
Denise Petski, Deadline, 4 June 2026
The fighting in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have seized large swaths of the south, threatens efforts to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for oil and gas.
—Bassem Mroue, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2026
The fighting threatens to further imperil the US’ talks with Iran, which has pegged a peace deal to a ceasefire in Lebanon.
—J.d. Capelouto, semafor.com, 4 June 2026
What holds it all together (through eight of the 10 episodes, at least, which is all that were provided for review and exactly when the narrative threatens to go off the rails) is Javier Bardem.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 3 June 2026
And that came in the guise of a serious illness that threatens — but then ends up solidifying — the unbreakable bond between Deborah (Jean Smart) and her protégé, Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), something that has been built up over the course of five seasons.
—Michael Schneider, Variety, 29 May 2026
At the heart of the looming MLB labor negotiations stalemate that threatens the 2027 season is the idea of introducing a salary cap in baseball.
—Dan Shanoff, New York Times, 27 May 2026
For a technology that could double, even triple the UK’s GDP if scaled correctly, slow business adoption threatens to let local enterprises lag further behind.
—Tarek Nseir, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026
Days away from the FIFA World Cup kicking off in Atlanta, MARTA’s new trains have not yet passed critical safety tests — a delay that threatens to undermine the agency’s promise to upgrade the transit system in time for the city’s showcase on the international stage.
—Thad Moore, AJC.com, 27 May 2026
Denise Petski, Deadline, 4 June 2026
The fighting in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have seized large swaths of the south, threatens efforts to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for oil and gas.
—Bassem Mroue, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2026
The fighting threatens to further imperil the US’ talks with Iran, which has pegged a peace deal to a ceasefire in Lebanon.
—J.d. Capelouto, semafor.com, 4 June 2026
What holds it all together (through eight of the 10 episodes, at least, which is all that were provided for review and exactly when the narrative threatens to go off the rails) is Javier Bardem.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 3 June 2026
And that came in the guise of a serious illness that threatens — but then ends up solidifying — the unbreakable bond between Deborah (Jean Smart) and her protégé, Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), something that has been built up over the course of five seasons.
—Michael Schneider, Variety, 29 May 2026
At the heart of the looming MLB labor negotiations stalemate that threatens the 2027 season is the idea of introducing a salary cap in baseball.
—Dan Shanoff, New York Times, 27 May 2026
For a technology that could double, even triple the UK’s GDP if scaled correctly, slow business adoption threatens to let local enterprises lag further behind.
—Tarek Nseir, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026
Days away from the FIFA World Cup kicking off in Atlanta, MARTA’s new trains have not yet passed critical safety tests — a delay that threatens to undermine the agency’s promise to upgrade the transit system in time for the city’s showcase on the international stage.
—Thad Moore, AJC.com, 27 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for threatens
endangers
Verb
-
Environmentalists say that plume endangers sea life.—
Harry Stevens,
New York Times,
3 June 2026
-
There’s lots of humiliation and frustration involved, as well as an incident that endangers his family.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
29 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Threatens.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/threatens. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
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