Meaning & use
menace
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Meanings
nouncountable
A person or thing likely to cause serious harm or danger.
Grammar: Usually singular with a: a menace to society.
Patterns
- a menace to someone
- a menace to something
Drunk drivers are a menace to everyone on the road.
The flooding river became a menace to nearby villages.
Invasive weeds are a menace to native plants.
noununcountable
A threatening, dangerous quality or feeling.
Grammar: Often used for a tone or atmosphere: an air of menace.
Patterns
- an air of menace
- with menace
There was a note of menace in his voice.
The dark clouds carried a sense of menace.
He spoke with quiet menace.
nouncountableinformalhumorous
An annoying or troublesome person, especially a child or pet.
Grammar: Playful: that dog is a menace.
Our puppy is a menace to the furniture.
Her little brother is a menace with a water gun.
The cat is a menace at three in the morning.
verbtransitiveliterary
To threaten with harm or danger.
Grammar: Takes an object: wolves menaced the flock.
Patterns
- menace someone
Dark clouds menaced the harbor.
A gang menaced the shopkeeper with threats.
Rising waters menaced the lower town.
Word forms
| plural | menaces |
|---|---|
| third person singular | menaces |
| past tense | menaced |
| -ing form | menacing |
Common combinations
- a menace to society
- The press called the gang a menace to society.
- public menace
- Speeding cars have become a public menace on this road.
- air of menace
- There was an air of menace around the empty building.
- a growing menace
- Plastic waste is a growing menace in the oceans.
- pose a menace
- Unchecked fires pose a menace to the forest.
Synonyms and how they differ
- threat
- Threat is the general word for possible harm, while menace feels more serious and suggests a looming danger.
- danger
- Danger is everyday and neutral, whereas menace often points to a person or thing actively causing the risk.
- nuisance
- Nuisance is mild and means something merely annoying, not truly harmful.
Opposites
Word family
- menacing adjective
- suggesting that harm is coming
- menacingly adverb
- in a threatening way
- menaced adjective
- threatened
Commonly confused: menace or menagerie?
menace vs menagerie
A menagerie is a collection of wild animals, and despite the similar start it has nothing to do with danger.
Practice
The reporter called the unlit crossing a ___ to children walking home.
Choose one answer.
A menace is a source of danger, which fits an unlit crossing. Benefit, guide and remedy all describe something helpful.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “menace”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.