Menace Meaning
/ˈmɛnɪs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA perceived threat or danger.
nounThe act of threatening.
Sentence Examples
This kind of bomb is a serious menace to mankind.
Tom is a menace.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The escaped lion was a dangerous ____ to the safety of the nearby village.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The thick fog was a major ____ to drivers on the highway, causing several accidents and long delays.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English manace, from Old French manace, menace, &c., from Late Latin minācia (“threat, menace”), from Latin mināx (“threatening”) + -ia (suffix forming abstract nouns).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"the dark menace of the distant war."
— 1697, Virgil, “The Ninth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
"My master […] did menace me with death."
— c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
"The Begums' ministers, on the contrary, to extort from them the disclosure of the place which concealed the treasures, were, […] after being fettered and imprisoned, led out on to a scaffold, and this array of terrours proving unavailing, the meek tempered Middleton, as a dernier resort, menaced them with a confinement in the fortress of Chunargar. Thus, my lords, was a British garrison made the climax of cruelties!"
— 1788 June, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, “Mr. Sheridan’s Speech, on Summing Up the Evidence on the Second, or Begum Charge against Warren Hastings, Esq., Delivered before the High Court of Parliament, June 1788”, in Select Speeches, Forensick and Parliamentary, with Prefatory Remarks by N[athaniel] Chapman, M.D., volume I, [Philadelphia, Pa.]: Published by Hopkins and Earle, no. 170, Market Street, published 1808, →OCLC, page 474:
"Bradley Barcola, on for Kvaratskhelia, menaced with his jet-heeled pace on the counter."
— 2026 May 30, David Hytner, “Paris Saint-Germain retain Champions League as Arsenal dream dashed in shootout”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 30 May 2026:
"Upon his browes was pourtraid vgly death,
And in his eies the furies of his heart,
That ſhine as Comets, menacing reueng,
And caſts a pale complexion on his cheeks."
— c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene ii:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The escaped lion was a dangerous ____ to the safety of the nearby village.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The thick fog was a major ____ to drivers on the highway, causing several accidents and long delays.