Word of the Week: Minatory

Source: Oxford Dictionaries

It’s Halloween tomorrow, so why not have some fun learning a new vocabulary word for the occasion? I came across this one after researching synonyms for “sinister” this week, and while I do think last year’s word was more fitting for Halloween, this year’s word is considerably more versatile in fiction. “Macabre” may be an excellent word for horror and Halloween-themed stories, but “minatory” can describe the threatening actions in all types of plots!

“Minatory” describes an action that conveys or expresses a threat. The word arose in the mid 16th century and comes from the Latin adjective minatorius, meaning “threatening”. This adjective derives from the verb minari, which means “to threaten”.

While “minatory” can describe any threatening action, note that Oxford Dictionaries labels it as a formal word, so you may want to limit its use to more proper contexts. Also notable is this word’s relation to the adjective “minacious“, which shares its Latin root and means “menacing” or “threatening”. If your characters tend to threaten each other, you may have fun writing about their “minatory” actions!

What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?