menacing

[ men-i-sing ]

adjective

1. expressing or serving as a menace or threat: menacing language.

   his menacing glare;

   menacing language.

Other Words From

• menac·ing·ly adverb
• non·menac·ing adjective
• un·menac·ing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of menacing¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; menace ( def ) + -ing ²( def )

Synonym Study

See ominous.

Example Sentences

It’s the humans, though, that you’ll remember from the ground up: Adams’ camera-friendly energy and hard-won serenity; Keoghan’s cockeyed warmth, just this side of menacing; Rogowski’s strange, commanding woundedness.

From Los Angeles Times

But however menacing, these were still just protests, and if Taylor was right about an approaching era of violence — something more widespread and systemic than the lone-wolf terrorism of a wayward man like Crusius — it was still unclear what the actual danger looked like.

From Salon

They treated it all like some terrible board game when they should have been sounding the alarms and giving the most menacing threat in American history the editorial weight it deserved.

From Salon

She said he was menacing and angry, and he shouted at her that the path was for pedestrians only.

From BBC

Meanwhile, across America, Los Angeles was coming into its own as the capital of gangsta rap, led by menacing mogul Suge Knight's Death Row Records, which had Dr Dre and Tupac.

From BBC

Related Words

• alarming
• dangerous
• frightening
• threatening