Adjacent Words

Menacing definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MEN'ACING, ppr. Threatening; declaring a disposition or determination to inflict evil.
1. a. Exhibiting the danger or probability of an evil or catastrophe to come; as a menacing attitude.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments; "a baleful look"; "forbidding thunderclouds"; "his tone became menacing"; "ominous rumblings of discontent"; "sinister storm clouds"; "a sinister smile"; "his threatening behavior"; "ugly black clouds"; "the situation became ugly" [syn: baleful, forbidding, menacing, minacious, minatory, ominous, sinister, threatening]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Menace Men"ace, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Menaced ([=a]st); p. pr. & vb. n. Menacing.] [OF. menacier, F. menacer. See Menace, n.] 1. To express or show an intention to inflict, or to hold out a prospect of inflicting, evil or injury upon; to threaten; -- usually followed by with before the harm threatened; as, to menace a country with war. My master . . . did menace me with death. --Shak. 2. To threaten, as an evil to be inflicted. By oath he menaced Revenge upon the cardinal. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If someone or something looks menacing, they give you a feeling that they are likely to cause you harm or put you in danger. The strong dark eyebrows give his face an oddly menacing look... = threatening ADJ • menacingly A group of men suddenly emerged from a doorway and moved menacingly forward to block her way. ADV: usu ADV after v, also ADV adj/-ed

Moby Thesaurus

about to be, abusive, alarming, already in sight, apocalyptic, approaching, at hand, bad, baleful, baneful, black, bludgeoning, blustering, bodeful, boding, brewing, browbeating, bulldozing, bullying, chancy, close, close at hand, coming, comminatory, critical, dangerous, dangersome, dark, denunciatory, dire, doomful, dreary, evil, evil-starred, explosive, fateful, fear-inspiring, foreboding, forthcoming, fraught with danger, frightening, future, gathering, gloomy, going to happen, hazardous, hectoring, ill, ill-boding, ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, immediate, imminent, impendent, impending, in danger imminent, in prospect, in reserve, in store, in the cards, in the offing, in the wind, in view, inauspicious, instant, intimidating, jeopardous, looming, lowering, lurking, minacious, minatory, near, near at hand, nearing, of evil portent, ominous, on the horizon, overhanging, parlous, periculous, perilous, portending, portentous, preparing, risky, serious, sinister, somber, terrifying, terroristic, terrorizing, that will be, threatening, threatful, to come, ugly, unfavorable, unfortunate, unlucky, unpromising, unpropitious, untoward, upcoming, waiting