Past tense of threaten
regular verb
The past tense of threaten is threatened. The past participle is also threatened.
Forms of threaten
| Base form (V1) | threaten /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | threatened /ˈθɹɛt.n̩d/ |
| Past participle (V3) | threatened /ˈθɹɛt.n̩d/ |
| Present participle | threatening /ˈθɹɛtə.nɪŋ/ |
| Third person singular | threatens |
Threatened in a sentence
- He threatened me with a knife.
- 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.1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Hocussing of Cigarette”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin...
- This species of snake will only attack humans if it feels threatened.From the entry attack
- We were tempted with the carrot but subtly threatened with the stick.From the entry stick
- In his anger he pushed me against the wall and threatened me.From the entry push
Meaning of threaten
- verb To make a threat against someone; to use threats.
- verb To menace, or be dangerous.
- verb To portend, or give a warning of.
Questions about the past tense of threaten
- What is the past tense of threaten?
- The past tense of threaten is threatened.
- What is the past participle of threaten?
- The past participle of threaten is threatened.
- Is threaten a regular or irregular verb?
- Threaten is a regular verb: its past tense adds -ed.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: threaten (page history and authors) and the entries of its forms. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws left out forms marked obsolete, archaic, rare or dialectal and added the examples. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Past tense of threaten.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/threaten. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.