Meaning & use
potential danger
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Meaning
nouncountable or uncountable
a possible risk or harm that could happen in the future, though it is not certain.
Grammar: Can be countable ('a potential danger') or uncountable ('potential danger'); often used with 'of'.
Patterns
- potential danger of something
- potential danger to someone/something
- a potential danger
The chemical leak poses a potential danger to the nearby residents.
There is a potential danger of landslides after heavy rain.
Parents warned about the potential danger of online strangers.
Word forms
| plural | potential dangers |
|---|
Common combinations
- pose a potential danger
- The old bridge poses a potential danger to drivers.
- potential danger to health
- Smoking is a potential danger to your health.
- aware of the potential danger
- The hikers were aware of the potential danger of avalanches.
- serious potential danger
- The report highlighted a serious potential danger in the workplace.
Synonyms and how they differ
- risk
- Risk is a more general word for the possibility of something bad happening; potential danger emphasizes the harmful nature of the possible event.
- hazard
- Hazard often refers to a concrete source of danger, like a slippery floor, while potential danger is broader and can be less specific.
Opposites
Word family
- dangerous adjective
- likely to cause harm
- dangerously adverb
- in a way that is likely to cause harm
Commonly confused: potential danger or potential danger?
potential danger vs potential danger
Not to be confused with 'potential danger' as a single word; it is always two words.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
The correct preposition is 'to' when saying who or what is at risk: 'a danger to public health'. 'For' (option 0) is sometimes used but less standard; 'of' (option 2) would mean the danger belongs to public health, which is wrong; 'with' (option 3) is not used in this pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “potential danger”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.