sword of Damocles

noun

any situation threatening imminent harm or disaster.

Sword of Damocles

noun

a closely impending disaster

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Word History and Origins

Origin of sword of Damocles¹

First recorded in 1810–20

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Word History and Origins

Origin of sword of Damocles¹

see _Damocles

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Idioms and Phrases

Also, Damocles' sword. Impending disaster, as in The likelihood of lay-offs has been a sword of Damocles over the department for months. This expression alludes to the legend of Damocles, a servile courtier to King Dionysius I of Syracuse. The king, weary of Damocles' obsequious flattery, invited him to a banquet and seated him under a sword hung by a single hair, so as to point out to him the precariousness of his position. The idiom was first recorded in 1747. The same story gave rise to the expression hang by a thread.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Hackford recalls feeling the sword of Damocles hanging over his head when he phoned King, who replied, “I wish I’d thought of that.”

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She described it as a "sword of Damocles over my head for three long years".

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The sword of Damocles hasn't deterred Gaetz's allies from hyping him up for a return to Congress as a House member, as a senato or for a Trump administration post that doesn't require Senate approval.

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By that point, the TV veteran had been unemployed for more than six months, and his children’s private school tuitions were looming over him like the sword of Damocles.

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They add, “the board should recognize the influence of the sword of Damocles hanging over shareholder heads: the outcome of any stockholder vote could well be seriously distorted by Musk’s looming threat.”

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