Standard Lemma guide

life-threatening

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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CMU ARPABET: L AY1 F TH R EH2 T N IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

adj

Meaning 1

Potentially fatal.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

The life-threatening illness caused him to be rushed to the hospital, where doctors worked around the clock to save his life.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

a dangerous operation
a grave situation
a grave illness
grievous bodily harm
a serious wound
a serious turn of events
a severe case of pneumonia
a life-threatening disease

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dangerous, grave, grievous, serious, severe

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From life + threatening.

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

Afrikaans: lewensbedreigend — potentially fatal
Afrikaans: lewensgevaarlik — potentially fatal
Chinese Mandarin: 危及生命的 (wēijí shēngmìng de) — potentially fatal
Danish: livstruende — potentially fatal
Dutch: levensbedreigend — potentially fatal
Dutch: levensgevaarlijk — potentially fatal
Esperanto: vivminaca — potentially fatal
Finnish: hengenvaarallinen — potentially fatal
German: lebensbedrohlich — potentially fatal
Hungarian: életveszélyes — potentially fatal
Norwegian Bokmål: livstruende — potentially fatal
Norwegian Nynorsk: livstruande — potentially fatal
Norwegian Nynorsk: livstrugande — potentially fatal
Polish: zagrażający życiu — potentially fatal
Swedish: livshotande — potentially fatal
Tagalog: buwis-buhay — potentially fatal

Word forms

Inflections and variants

more life-threatening — comparative
most life-threatening — superlative

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: non-life-threatening

Related: critical

Semantic map

Other relationships

Sources

Where this information comes from

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Real reading context

Examples

Meaning relationships

Examples

Meaning relationships

life-threatening in complete knowledge articles