threaten
/ˈθɹɛt.n̩/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.94 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "No one, however, would have anything to do with him, as Mr. Keeson's orders in those respects were very strict ; he had often threatened any one of his employés with instant dismissal if he found him in company with one of these touts."
- ""Taiwanese are very enthusiastic and love freedom and democracy, so many good international friends have come to Taiwan to support us. This is a normal and good thing, but China threatens and intimidates Taiwan," she said. "However, I would like to reassure everyone that both our government and the military are prepared, and I will definitely take care of Taiwan.""
- "He threatened me with a knife."
- "The rocks threatened the ship's survival."
- "The black clouds threatened heavy rain."
- "The new information threatened our original hypothesis."
Etymology
From Middle English thretenen, from Old English þrēatnian (“to urge, force, compel”), equivalent to threat + -en.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/
- British English: /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/