# threaten vs threatened

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### threaten
*verb · IPA /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/ · frequency rank #7,861*
To make a threat against someone; to use threats.

### threatened
*verb · IPA /ˈθɹɛt.n̩d/ · frequency rank #3,913*
simple past and past participle of threaten

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/threaten-vs-threatened