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What is the difference in meaning between 脅す, 脅かす, 脅迫する, 脅迫, 脅し?

How would each one be used in real life?
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2018-03-07T14:53:56.260
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question
meaning word-choice words nuances
What is the difference between 脅す, 脅かす, 脅迫する, 脅迫, 脅し
脅迫【きょうはく】 is a kango (Sino-Japanese word) whereas 脅す【おどす】/脅かす【おどかす】 is a wago
(yamato-kotoba, native Japanese word). As always, the kango version looks
stiff and technical. Specifically in this case, 脅迫 is an official name of a
criminal offense ("intimidation"). So using 脅迫 for an argument between
children may be over the top.

脅す (transitive verb) only means "to threat" or "to intimidate". 脅し is a
nominalized version of 脅す ([masu-stem as a
noun](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/32311/5010)). 脅かす (transitive verb)
works as a bit colloquial equivalent of 脅す, and it can also mean "to frighten"
or "to startle".
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answer
I will explain their differences in three stages, and I'll show their usage at
the end.

(1) Origin  
At first they are divided into two groups:  
Group 1: 脅す, 脅かす, 脅し  
Group 2: 脅迫する, 脅迫  
Words in the first group belong to 大和言葉{やまとことば} or 和語{わご}, which is explained
[here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamato_kotoba).  
The essence of the explanation is " **大和言葉{やまとことば}** literally "Japanese
words" or **wago** are native Japanese words, meaning those words in Japanese
that have been inherited from Old Japanese, rather than being borrowed at some
stage."

Words in the second group belong to Sino-Japanese_vocabulary or **漢語｛かんご｝** ,
which is explained [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-
Japanese_vocabulary).

The essence of the explanation is " **Sino-Japanese vocabulary** or **kango**
refers to that portion of the Japanese vocabulary that originated in Chinese
or has been created from elements borrowed from Chinese."

Generally, Yamato_kotoba or wago has a nuance of being emotional as a feature,
so it is suitable for use in conversations or everyday expressions. On the
other hand, kango has a logical nuance so it is suitable for use in official
texts/documents, and it is easy to construct compound words together with
other kango as its general linguistic nature.

Compound words using 脅迫:

  * 脅迫罪{きょうはくざい} _criminal intimidation_
  * 脅迫状{きょうはくじょう} _a threatening letter_
  * 脅迫電話{きょうはくでんわ} _a threatening （telephone） call_

(2) Part of class  
脅す and 脅かす are verbs and 脅し is a noun having the same etymology meaning
"threat".  
脅迫する is a verb and 脅迫 is a noun having the same etymology meaning "threat".

(３) The difference between 脅す and 脅かす  
The explanation here is cited from
[here](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/thsrs/9380/meaning/m0u/). For details,
please refer to the original text.

  * 脅かす has two pronunciations as 脅｛おど｝かす and 脅{おびや}かす, and they are two different words.
  * 脅{おど}かす and脅{おびや}かす has the same meaning _to frighten others with some means_.
  * 脅{おど}かす is also used in a sentence like "突然{とつぜん}わっと言｛い｝って脅｛おど｝かす", meaning to surprise others.
  * 脅{おびや}かすalso has meaning to make something or the other party in an unstable state by being used in a sentence like "首位{しゅい}の座｛ざ｝を脅｛おびや｝かす _to make the leading position in an unstable state_ " or "平和｛へいわ｝を脅｛おびや｝かす _to make the peace unstable_ or _to threaten the peace_ ".
  * (natural) ピストルで人質｛ひとじち｝を脅｛おど｝かす _to threaten the hostage with a pistol_
  * (natural) ピストルで人質を脅｛おど｝す
  * (?) ピストルで人質を脅｛おびや｝す
  * (natural) 大声{おおごえ}で子供｛こども｝を脅｛おど｝かす _to frighten children with a loud voice_ "
  * (natural) 大声で子供を脅｛おど｝す
  * (unnatural) 大声で子供を脅｛おびや｝かす
  * (natural) 社長｛しゃちょう｝を脅｛おど｝かして金｛かね｝を取る _to threaten the president and deprive him of his money_
  * (natural) 社長を脅｛おど｝して金を取る
  * (unnatural) 社長を脅｛おびや｝かして金を取る
  * (unnatural) 核兵器{かくへいき}で隣国｛りんごく｝を脅｛おど｝かす
  * (unnatural) 核兵器で隣国を脅｛おど｝す
  * (natural) 核兵器で隣国を脅｛おびや｝かす _to threaten neighboring countries with nuclear weapons_

# EDIT

I'll show the difference between 脅{おど}す, 脅｛おど｝かす and 脅｛おびや｝かす in more detail.

脅｛おど｝す means to give threat with concrete things like a knife or a gun that
certainly gives threat effectively to the other party at a glance, to give
threat with exposing the other party's critical weaknesses or shames, or to
give threat with threatening what he/she doesn't want to lose, and the
characteristics of 脅｛おど｝す are direct and static.

脅{おど}かす is akin to 脅｛おど｝す, but the means that is used in 脅{おど}かす is
insufficient to give threat to the other party, so additional threatening
words or acts are needed, and its characteristics are direct and noisy.

On the other hand, 脅｛おびや｝かす has somewhat different nuance from 脅{おど}す or
脅｛おど｝かす, and the target which 脅｛おびや｝かす threatens is different from that 脅{おど}す
or 脅｛おど｝かす does.  
脅｛おびや｝かす has a nuance or an image in which an enormous threat or fear not
having an obvious appearance gradually invades the target. And, the target
which 脅｛おびや｝かす threatens is not a person but abstract things such as a
society, a nation, a status, peace, happiness and the like.
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answer