imperil

verb

im·​per·​il im-ˈper-əl 

-ˈpe-rəl

imperiled or imperilled; imperiling or imperilling

transitive verb

: to bring into peril : endanger

imperilment

im-ˈper-əl-mənt 

-ˈpe-rəl-

noun

Synonyms

• adventure
• compromise
• endanger
• gamble (with)
• hazard
• jeopard
• jeopardize
• menace
• peril
• risk
• venture

Examples of imperil in a Sentence

The toxic fumes imperiled the lives of the trapped miners.

The financial health of the company was imperiled by a string of bad investments.

a list of imperiled species

Recent Examples on the Web

At the moment, much attention has been drawn to the energy-intensive nature of AI itself: Microsoft, for instance, acknowledged that its AI development has imperiled their climate goals. —Andrew R. Chow, TIME, 11 Dec. 2024

Those incidents underscore concerns about his behavior that have imperiled his prospects to lead the Pentagon. —Sharon Lafraniere, New York Times, 5 Dec. 2024

House Republicans like Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska, David Valadao of California and Dan Newhouse of Washington have previously been critical of Trump and could break with the party on some issues, imperiling some early legislative action. —Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 2 Dec. 2024

Biden and his family believe the attacks on Hunter were meant to push him into relapse, then imperil his presidency. —Alex Thompson, Axios, 2 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English inperiled, from in- in- entry 2 + peril peril entry 1 + -ed -ed entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

imperil

verb

im·​per·​il im-ˈper-əl 

imperiled or imperilled; imperiling or imperilling

: to place in great danger : endanger

imperilment

-əl-mənt 

noun