empty threat

noun

: a threat that someone does not really mean
Don't make empty threats that you have no intention of backing up with action.
… the Witch of the West looks, in this scene anyhow, curiously frail and impotent, obliged to mouth empty threats …— Salman Rushdie

Examples of empty threat in a Sentence

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Government officials worry Biden’s record of empty threats have given the Israelis a sense of impunity. — Brett Murphy, ProPublica, 15 Jan. 2025 The status quo — an impasse where TikTok operates as normal with the seemingly empty threat of a ban hanging over its head — won’t be tenable for much longer. — Vox Staff, Vox, 10 Jan. 2025

Rhymes for empty threat

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empty suit
empty threat
empty weight
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Cite this Entry

“Empty threat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empty%20threat. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.

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