The criminal approached the crowd menacingly.

Analyze the question: The underlined word is menacingly, and we need the option closest in meaning to it in this sentence.

Explain the concept: Menacingly is the adverb form of menace or menacing. It means in a way that suggests danger or harm, or in a way that shows an intention to cause harm. Its synonyms include threateningly, ominously and intimidatingly.

Step-by-step solution:

• A. stealthily means secretly or quietly, so as not to be noticed. Someone approaching a crowd menacingly is not necessarily hiding, so this is wrong.
• B. cunningly means in a clever, sly or deceitful way. It describes cleverness, not a threat, so this is wrong.
• C. calculatedly means in a deliberate, planned way. It does not carry the idea of danger or intimidation, so this is wrong.
• D. threateningly means in a way that shows intent to harm or intimidate. This matches menacingly exactly.

Answer: The criminal approached the crowd in a way that showed he might harm them, so the correct option is D. threateningly.

Tip: In vocabulary questions, link the root word to a word you know. Menace means a threat or danger, so menacingly means threateningly. Also watch for distractors such as stealthily and cunningly. They fit a criminal's behaviour in general, but they do not match the meaning of the word.