Meaning & use
threatened
Last updated
“threatened” is a form of “threaten”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
At risk of being harmed, damaged or lost, as a plant, animal, place or way of life.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after a linking verb: a threatened species; the habitat is threatened.
Patterns
- a threatened species
- threatened by something
The park protects several threatened species of frog.
Jobs at the factory are threatened by cheap imports.
Conservationists want to save the threatened wetland.
adjectivecomparable
Feeling that someone or something may harm you, your position or your confidence.
Grammar: Describes a person's feeling, often with feel and by: she felt threatened by his success.
Patterns
- feel threatened by someone
- feel threatened
Some managers feel threatened by talented new employees.
The dog felt threatened and began to growl.
He never felt threatened in the quiet town.
verbtransitive
Past tense and past participle of threaten, meaning to have said you might harm or punish someone.
Grammar: Takes an object and can be followed by with or to: they threatened him with legal action.
Patterns
- threatened someone with something
- threatened to do something
The landlord threatened them with eviction.
She threatened to resign if the rules did not change.
The storm threatened the coast all night.
Word forms
| base form | threaten |
|---|---|
| third person singular | threatens |
| -ing form | threatening |
Common combinations
- feel threatened
- Some neighbors felt threatened by the new development.
- a threatened species
- The turtle is now a threatened species.
- threatened with closure
- The library was threatened with closure.
- threatened by
- Local shops are threatened by large chains.
- seriously threatened
- The island's coral reefs are seriously threatened.
- threatened with violence
- She said she was threatened with violence.
Synonyms and how they differ
- endangered
- Endangered is stronger when talking about wildlife, meaning at serious risk of dying out, while threatened covers a wider range of risk.
- at risk
- At risk is a plain phrase that does not suggest an actual intention to cause harm.
- intimidated
- Intimidated describes a person made afraid or timid by someone, while threatened can also describe a species or a place.
- imperiled
- Imperiled is a formal, literary word for being in great danger.
Opposites
Word family
- threaten verb
- to say you will harm someone, or to put at risk
- threat noun
- a statement of intent to harm, or a source of danger
- threatening adjective
- suggesting harm or danger
- threateningly adverb
- in a way that suggests harm
Commonly confused: threatened or endangered? threatened or threatening?
threatened vs endangered
An endangered species is in more serious danger of extinction than a threatened one, in official conservation terms.
threatened vs threatening
Threatening describes the thing that causes danger, while threatened describes what is in danger or feels afraid.
Practice
Which sentence correctly shows how a person feels?
Choose one answer.
Feel threatened by describes a person's reaction to something that seems dangerous. Threatening describes the cause, and threat and threaten are the wrong forms.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “threatened”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.