Synonyms of threatens

threatens

verb

present tense third-person singular of threaten

as in endangers

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

the powerful hurricane continues to threaten the southern coastline

Synonyms & Similar Words

• endangers
• menaces
• hangs (over)
• jeopardizes
• hovers (over)
• imperils
• impends (over)
• overhangs
• hazards
• perils

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of threatens

This is, of course, the conception of fundamentalist theology, which threatens eternal hellfire for anyone who defies its commandments. — Literary Hub, 18 Sep. 2026

As a result, the rise in diesel costs threatens to worsen a surge of inflation set off by the outbreak of the Iran war nearly seven months ago. — ABC News, 18 Sep. 2026

Created by Ronan Bennett, the Paramount+ series follows the warring Harrigan and Stevenson families, whose long-running feud threatens to upend London’s criminal underworld. — Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026

Director/co-writer Zach Cregger has fashioned a movie with original characters set in the world of the games, where a virus outbreak caused by the nefarious Umbrella Corporation threatens the world with zombies and other hard-to-re-kill creatures. — Jesse Hassenger, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2026

Research strongly indicates that such a state of affairs is in conflict with students’ right to privacy and to a free education, and actively threatens their intellectual and social-emotional development. — Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2026

As both parents need support from their new partners, the real issue is Rose, who faces the only medical solution that has a shot at saving her as well as an extended family that threatens to fall apart — again. — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 17 Sep. 2026

The ongoing war in the Middle East has pushed up energy prices and now threatens to make inflation more persistent. — Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 16 Sep. 2026

Against this microcosm of the class war Lee sets the emergence of artificial intelligence, which threatens to further destabilize labor across a range of industries — including his own. — Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026