Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Menace |
MenaceNoun1. Something that is a source of danger; "earthquakes are a constant threat in Japan". 2. A threat or the act of threatening; "he spoke with desperate menace". Verb1. Pose a threat to; present a danger to; "The pollution is endangering the crops". 2. Express a threat either by an utterance or a gesture; "he menaced the bank manager with a stick". 3. Act in a threatening manner; "A menacing person". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "menace" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1380. (references) |
Synonyms: MenaceSynonyms: threat (n), endanger (v), imperil (v), jeopardise (v), jeopardize (v), peril (v), threaten (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Threat | Verb: threat, threaten; menace; snarl, growl, gnarl, mutter, bark, bully. |
Noun: threat, menace; defiance; abuse, minacity, intimidation; denunciation; fulmination; commination; (curse); gathering clouds; (warning). | |
Warning | Verb: warn, caution; forewarn, prewarn; admonish, premonish; give notice, give warning, dehort; menace; (threaten); put on one's guard; sound the alarm; croak. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Menace |
| English words defined with "menace": Denouncer ♦ Interminate, Intermination ♦ Manace, Menaced ♦ surly ♦ ugly. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "menace": crawling horror ♦ Lake ♦ PUBLIC-HEALTH MICROBIOLOGIST ♦ smoke zone. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "menace": minatory. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Menace" is also a word in the following language with English translations in parentheses. French (impendence, menace, threat). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I'm this century's Dennis the Menace! (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge) You know, just once I'd like to meet an alien menace that wasn't immune to bullets (Doctor Who; writing credit: Basil Caplan; Martin Defalco) Moon Star of Limbo, give me the might, the muscle, the menace of Moon Star (Silverhawks; writing credit: Dennis Potter) You are a menace! A walking pestilence (Planet of the Apes; writing credit: Pierre Boulle; Michael Wilson) Well, I didn't think The Phantom Menace was that bad (Spaced; writing credit: Simon Pegg; Jessica Stevenson) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Urban Menace (1999) Menace (1973) Dennis the Menace (1968) The Moon Menace Retik (1966) La Menace (1960) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | L'Alcool Menace Les Enfants De France. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | The radio menace. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | New menace in the rice paddys [sic]. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | The Menace Force ready to join patriotic parade at Aurora, Mo. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | L'autre péril. Ne nous endormons pas sur nos lauriers, la tuberculose nous menace, il faut la vaincre. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | L'autre péril. Ne nous endormons pas sur nos lauriers, la tuberculose nous menace, il faut la vaincre. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Help crush the menace of the seas - buy liberty bonds / J.L. Grosse. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Brigham Young | Any young man who is unmarried at the age of twenty one is a menace to the community. |
Lord Byron | I cannot help thinking that the menace of Hell makes as many devils as the severe penal codes of inhuman humanity make villains. |
Theodore Roosevelt | To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Communist Manifesto | 1848 | In this way arose Feudal Socialism: half lamentation, half lampoon; half echo of the past, half menace of the future; at times, by its bitter, witty and incisive criticism, striking the bourgeoisie to the very heart's core; but always ludicrous in its effect, through total incapacity to comprehend the march of modern history. (reference) |
Winston S. Churchill | 1946 | I have now stated the two great dangers which menace the homes of the people: War and Tyranny. ("Iron Curtain" Speech) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | The various forms which thought assumed in the realm of argot, even song, even raillery, even menace, all had this impotent and exhausted character |
King Richard III | Shakespeare, William | Your eyes do menace me. |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | This camp is a menace to health |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | Nigeria | However, at state and local levels, tax drives are a constant menace to business. (references) |
Guatemala | Despite most Guatemalans' attachment to the original ideals of the 1944 uprising, some private sector leaders and the military viewed Arbenz's policies as a menace. (references) | |
Nigeria | The GON has expressed concern about this looming menace as it could have a devastating impact on Nigeria's growth and poverty alleviation efforts if it remains unchecked. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Andrew Jackson | 1829-1837 | The conception that it was my intention to menace or insult the Government of France is as unfounded as the attempt to extort from the fears of that nation what her sense of justice may deny would be vain and ridiculous. |
Warren G. Harding | 1921-1923 | Our eyes never will be blind to a developing menace, our ears never deaf to the call of civilization. |
Calvin Coolidge | 1923-1929 | But it should be so conducted that all the world may see in it, not a menace, but an instrument of security and peace. |
Dwight Eisenhower | 1953-1961 | Thus may the nations cease to live in trembling before the menace of force. |
Lyndon B. Johnson | 1963-1969 | We have begun to rescue our waters from the menace of pollution and to restore the beauty of our land and our countryside, our cities and our towns. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Menace" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 93.36% of the time. "Menace" is used about 467 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 93.36% | 436 | 13,209 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 3.21% | 15 | 90,616 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 2.36% | 11 | 106,044 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.64% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Noun (common) | 0.43% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 467 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "menace": he's a menace. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "menace": menace-filled, menace-laden. | |
Ending with "menace": space-menace. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "menace"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | dreigement (threat), bedreiging (threat), bedreig (threaten). (various references) | |
Albanian | rrezik (chance, danger, distress, fear, hazard, imminence, impendence, jeopardy, peril, risk, riskiness), kërcënoj (blackmail, browbeat, bulldoze, denounce, impend, threaten), kërcënim (blackmail, chantage, commination, denouncement, imminence, intimidation, saltation, threat, threatening). (various references) | |
Arabic | هدد (intimidate, loom up, lurk, overhang, threaten), وعيد (bluster, threat), تهديد (bluster, intimidation, threat), توعد (bluster, impend, luscious, overhang, threaten), عرض للخطر (endanger, imperil, jeopard, jeopardize, peril, risk), شخص مزعج (heller). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | опасност (danger, fear, jeopardy, peril, risk, shoal, threat), напаст (adversity, curse, nuisance, pest, plague, scourge, terror), застрашавам (imperil, threaten), заплаха (danger, imminence, impendence, threat, thunderbolt), заплашвам (huff, impend, intimidate, threaten, thunder). (various references) | |
Chinese | 威胁 (Cowed, Cowing, threat, threaten, threatened, threatening). (various references) | |
Czech | výhrùžka (threat), ohrožovat (threaten), nebezpeèí (danger, hazard, jeopardy, peril, risk), hrozit (shake, threaten). (various references) | |
Danish | trussel (threat), true (threaten). (various references) | |
Dutch | dreigen (threaten), bedreigen (threaten). (various references) | |
Esperanto | minaco (threat), minaci (threaten). (various references) | |
Faeroese | hótta (threaten). (various references) | |
Farsi | مخاطره (Adventure, Hazard, Jeopardy, Peril, Risk, Venture), چیزی که تهدیدکننده است , چشم زهره رفتن , تهدیدکردن (Overhang, Threat), تهدید (Blackmail, Threat), ارعاب کردن . (various references) | |
Finnish | uhata (threaten). (various references) | |
French | menacer, menace. (various references) | |
Frisian | drigemint (threat), drige (threaten), bedriigje (threaten), bedriging (threat). (various references) | |
German | drohen (be imminent, be looming, impend, loom, threat, threaten, to menace, to threaten), bedrohen (endanger, pull, threaten), Drohung (shadow, threat), Bedrohung (danger, shadow, threat, threatening). (various references) | |
Greek | φοβερά (awfully, formidably, redoubtably, terribly, terrifically, threat), φοβερίζω (awe, bulldoze, bully, threaten), απειλώ (threaten, threaten with), απειλή (duress, threat, threatening). (various references) | |
Hebrew | לאים (intimidate, threaten), ל"עמי" בסכ " (pawn), לסכן (endanger, imperil, jeopardize, risk, stake, threaten), אימ" (alarm, awe, dread, fear, luridness, terror), איום (awful, dire, dreadful, fearful, fell, frightful, grim, hideous, intimidation, terrible, terrific, threat), סכ " (danger, hazard, jeopardy, peril, threat). (various references) | |
Hungarian | fenyegetés (boast, intimidation, threat), veszély (danger, distress, hazard, imminence, jeopardy, lion in the path, lion in the way, peril, risk). (various references) | |
Indonesian | ancaman (threat). (various references) | |
Italian | minacciare (impend, overhang, threaten), minaccia (threat). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 脅迫 (coercion, terrorism, threat), 脅威 (threat), 猛威 (fury, power). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | きょうかつ (blackmail, intimidation, threat), きょうい (Board of Education, chest measurement, emphasis, miracle, threat, wonder), きょうはく (coercion, compelling, terrorism, threat, using duress), いかく (threat), もうい (fury, power). (various references) | |
Papiamen | menasá (threaten), amenasá (threaten), amenasa (threat). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | enacemay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | ameaça (intimidation, threat), ameaçar (bludgeon, bully, overhang, threaten). (various references) | |
Romanian | pericol (danger, risk), ameninţare (commination, threat, threatening), ameninţa (bludgeon, bluster, denunciate, impend, launch a threat, overhang, Ratten, scowl, threaten). (various references) | |
Russian | угроза (commination, danger, fulmination, imminence, threat), угрожать угроза, опасность (danger, jeopardy, narrow shave, near shave, peril, riskiness). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | zapretiti (threaten, warn), ugroziti (endanger, imperil, jeopardize, threaten), ugrožavanje, pretnja (assault, threat), opasnost (danger, death trap, deathtrap, distress, jeopardy, peril, risk). (various references) | |
Spanish | amenaza (assault, threat, threatens), amenazar (brew, impend, loom, loom up, overhang, threaten), conminar (threaten), conminación (threat). (various references) | |
Swedish | hotelse (threat), hot (impendence, threat), pest (pest, pestilence, plague), hota (impend, overhang, threaten). (various references) | |
Thai | คุกคาม (threaten), ัยอันตราย (risk). (various references) | |
Turkish | tehdit etmek (overhang, threaten), tehdit (danger, intimidation, jawbone, threat, threatening), gözdağı vermek (buffalo, bulldoze, hector about, hector around, threaten). (various references) | |
Turkmen | haяbat (threat). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | небезпека (danger, imminence, jeopardy, peril), загроза (danger, impendence, threat), загрожувати (hang, hang about, hang over, impend, overhang, threaten). (various references) | |
Welsh | bygwth (threat, threaten). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | eminor, impendeo. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "menace": menaced, menacer, menacers, menaces. (additional references) | |
| |
"Menace" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Benaco, eance, enace, Jenbach, Mainace, Manacca, manacor, manasir, manichee, Mannakee, Mannucci, Mcneece, meace, meanys, Mednoye, Megapc, Meineke, Meknassi, menac, menache, menacy, menae, Menahcem, menaiche, Menasco, menase, Menashe, Menatep, mence, menche, Mencl, menee, menice, Menise, Mennecey, mensae, Menschen, menue, merawec, minaccia, Minack, Minale, moenich, Molacek, Monance, Monceau, monice, neace, nenace, Nenashev, penace, Penacev. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "menace" (pronounced me"nus) |
| 3 | -n u s | abruptness, absoluteness, acuteness, aggressiveness, agribusiness, airworthiness, alertness, aloofness, alumnus, Anas, androgynous, anise, appropriateness, arbitrariness, assertiveness, astuteness, asynchronous, attentiveness, attractiveness, awareness, awfulness, awkwardness, backwardness, badness, bagginess, baldness, bearishness, bigness, bitterness, bituminous, blackness, blandness, bleakness, blindness, bluntness, boldness, bonus, boorishness, brashness, brightness, bullishness, business, callousness, calmness, carelessness, casualness, cautiousness, cavernous, cheapness, chitinous, cleanliness, cleanness, cleverness, closeness, cloudiness, clumsiness, cockiness, cohesiveness, coldness, Colonus, combativeness, compactness, competitiveness, completeness, consciousness, contagiousness, contentiousness, contrariness, Conus, coolness, correctness, coziness, craziness, creativeness, creditworthiness, creepiness, crispness, crookedness, cuteness, dampness, darkness, Deaconess, deadliness, deafness, decisiveness, defensiveness, destructiveness, directness, disingenuousness, distinctiveness, divisiveness, dizziness, dreariness, drowsiness, drunkenness, dryness, dullness, eagerness, earnestness, edginess, effectiveness, elusiveness, emptiness, evenness, exogenous, eyewitness, faintness, fairness, farsightedness, fastness, fickleness, firmness, fitness, flatness, fondness, foolishness, forcefulness, forgiveness, forthrightness, foulness, fractiousness, frankness, freshness, friendliness, frothiness, fullness, funniness, furnace, gauntness, gayness, gelatinous, gentleness, genuineness, genus, ghastliness, gluttonous, goodness, governess, graciousness, greatness, greenness, grimness, hairiness, handedness, happiness, hardness, harmfulness, harness, harshness, heinous, helplessness, highness, hoarseness, holiness, homelessness, homesickness, homogenous, hopefulness, hopelessness, humanness, idleness, illness, inclusiveness, indebtedness, indecisiveness, indigenous, ineffectiveness, ineptness, inertness, intravenous, intrusiveness, inventiveness, joblessness, Johannes, kindness, larcenous, largeness, lateness, lawlessness, laziness, lenis, lightfastness, lightness, likeness, liveliness, loneliness, lousiness, luminous, madness, Manus, meanness, membranous, Minas, mindedness, minus, monotonous, mountainous, mutinous, narrowness, nastiness, nearsightedness, neatness, nervousness, newness, niceness, nitrogenous, nonbusiness, nonpoisonous, nosiness, nothingness, numbness, ominous, oneness, onus, openness, orderliness, otherness, outrageousness, outspokenness, pandanus, peacefulness, penis, permissiveness, persuasiveness, pervasiveness, pettiness, playfulness, poisonous, politeness, polygynous, pompousness, possessiveness, powerlessness, preparedness, queasiness, quickness, quietness, raciness, randomness, rareness, ravenous, rawness, readiness, reasonableness, rebelliousness, recklessness, redness, remoteness, resistiveness, resourcefulness, responsiveness, restiveness, restlessness, restrictiveness, richness, righteousness, rightness, riskiness, robustness, roominess, roughness, rowdiness, rudeness, ruinous, ruthlessness, sacredness, sadness, Salinas, sameness, scantiness, secretiveness, selfishness, selflessness, sensitiveness, separateness, seriousness, shakiness, shallowness, sharpness, shortness, shortsightedness, shrewdness, shyness, sickness, silliness, sinus, skittishness, slackness, sleepiness, sloppiness, slovenliness, slowness, sluggishness, slyness, smallness, smoothness, smugness, softness, solitariness, soundness, spiritedness, squeamishness, starkness, steadfastness, steadiness, steepness, sternness, stiffness, stillness, stinginess, stoutness, strangeness, stubbornness, sturdiness, suddenness, suggestiveness, sweetness, swiftness, tardiness, tartness, tastiness, tenderness, tetanus, thickness, thinness, thoroughness, thoughtfulness, tightness, timeliness, tiredness, togetherness, toughness, trustworthiness, truthfulness, ugliness, unconsciousness, uneasiness, unfairness, unhappiness, uniqueness, unpleasantness, unwieldiness, unwillingness, usefulness, vagueness, vastness, venous, viciousness, villainous, vindictiveness, vividness, voluminous, wariness, wastefulness, waterishness, weakness, weariness, weightlessness, weirdness, wellness, wetness, whiteness, wholeness, wholesomeness, wickedness, wilderness, wildness, willingness, wimpiness, wistfulness, witness, wonderfulness, worldliness, worthiness, wryness. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-e-e-m-n" | |
-1 letter: enema. | |
-2 letters: acme, acne, amen, came, cane, mace, mane, mean, name, neem, nema. | |
-3 letters: ace, ane, cam, can, cee, eme, mac, mae, man, men, nae, nam, nee. | |
-4 letters: ae, am, an, em, en, ma, me, na, ne. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-c-e-e-m-n" | |
+1 letter: cavemen, cementa, menaced, menacer, menaces. | |
+2 letters: ambience, camphene, casement, encamped, menacers, menarche, placemen, spacemen. | |
+3 letters: ambiences, archenemy, cameramen, camphenes, casements, cattlemen, chameleon, damascene, emittance, enactment, exciseman, geomancer, gynaeceum, immanence, impedance, macedoine, mechanize, menarches, mercenary, mescaline, mincemeat, placement, remanence, selectman, semblance. | |
+4 letters: accruement, aerenchyma, amercement, antiemetic, cajolement, calmnesses, camerlengo, catechumen, centesimal, ceremonial, chameleons, chimpanzee, cinemagoer, cinematize, coenamored, colemanite, commandeer, commentate, compensate, creaminess, cysteamine, damascened, damascenes, decampment, defacement, defenceman, detachment, ecumenical, effacement, effeminacy, elecampane, emancipate, emittances, enactments, encampment, encasement, encashment, enlacement, escapement, escarpment, feminacies, geomancers, geomancies, immanences, impatience, impedances, lambencies, lemniscate, macedoines, maleficent, manchineel, mechanized, mechanizer, mechanizes, mediagenic, medicament, melanocyte, menarcheal, mercantile, merchanted, mescalines, metacenter, mincemeats, nematicide, nematocide, numeracies, permanence, permanency, placements, preachment, remanences, remittance, semblances, serviceman, solacement, temperance. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Quotations: Historic | 9. Quotations: Fiction 10. Quotations: Non-fiction 11. Quotations: Speeches 12. Usage Frequency | 13. Expressions 14. Expressions: Internet 15. Translations: Modern 16. Translations: Ancient | 17. Derivations 18. Rhymes 19. Anagrams 20. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
