threaten

verb/ˈθrɛtən/

Frequency rank: #4,580 of 20,003 in the WORDED list (wordfreq data)

Meaning

To be a sign of possible harm; to say you may hurt someone.

Illustration for the English word “threaten”

Example sentence

The dark clouds seem to threaten rain soon.

Synonyms & related words

More words in ranks 4,501–4,600