menacing

adjective

men·​ac·​ing ˈme-nə-siŋ 

: presenting, suggesting, or constituting a menace or threat : threatening

a menacing look

menacing words

[Harold E. Edgerton] … was also one of the first to take photographs of the menacing mushroom cloud emanating from a nuclear blast.

—Benjamin Genocchio

Ransomware is a menacing scam that involves locking businesses out of their computers and demanding payment of a ransom in exchange for the return of company systems and data.

—Roger Williams

The image is chilling: a series of menacing bear traps laid out like footsteps.

—Emily DeNitto

menacingly adverb

A man stepped menacingly from the corner brandishing a long pole …

—Elizabeth George Speare

"If you shout his name I will curse you into oblivion," muttered Tonks menacingly …

—J. K. Rowling

Examples of menacing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The rapper’s latest includes wistful trap anthems ruminating on his trials and tribulations, as well as menacing drill tracks and more melodic songs tapping into his romantic side to cater to his female fan base — all of which were run by Durk’s legal team before heading to streaming services. —Michael Saponara, Billboard, 28 Mar. 2025

Bell, a Ritchie regular, offers an uncouth but equally menacing counterpoint to Brosnan, a mobster who isn’t pretending that he’s crawled out of the muck. —Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 28 Mar. 2025

Where Reagan talked and acted kind toward weaker interlocutors such as Ottawa and tough toward menacing ones such as Moscow, Trump does the inverse. —Andreas Kluth, The Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2025

And there’s nothing menacing about them, Donovan said. —Andy Rose, CNN Money, 26 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English manacyng, from present participle of manacen "to menace entry 2"

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above