precarious en · ADJ · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /pɹɪˈkɛəɹi.əs/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
From Latin precārius (“begged for, obtained by entreaty”), from prex, precis (“prayer”). Compare French précaire, Portuguese precário, and Spanish and Italian precario.
Meanings
-
(comparable) Dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous.
Never had he been so fond of this body of his as now when his tenure of it was so precarious.
1906 May–October, Jack London, chapter III, in White Fang, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 1 (The Wild):One can't escape the huge nuclear facility at Sellafield (supplier of much of the line's remaining freight traffic), or miss the wild shingle beaches with exposed and precarious bungalows sandwiched between the railway and the shore at Braystones.
2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 57:The existence of Jewish partisans was precarious. They lived from hand to mouth, stealing when necessary, arranging secret deliveries of food, and spending hours and even days in holes in the ground when danger threatened.
2016, Doris L. Bergen, “8 - Flashover: The Killing Centers, 1942-1944”, in War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust, page 266:One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
- Depending on the intention of another.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most precarious | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more precarious | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Deriveds
precariat · unprecarious · precarity · precarization · precarisation · precariously · precariousness · bioprecarity
Relateds
Synonyms
unsteady · shaky · rickety · tottering · touch-and-go · wobbly · unstable · unsafe
Translations (56)
fr précaire (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · hu engedélytől függő ((law) depending on the intention of another) · ru опа́сный (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · pl niepewny (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · cs prekérní (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · cs ošidný (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · cy sigledig (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · bg ненадежден (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · pdt roakboa (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · de widerruflich ((law) depending on the intention of another) · el επισφαλής (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · nb prekær (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · ca precari (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · nl ter bede ((law) depending on the intention of another) · hu ingatag (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · la precarius (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · nl onzeker (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · uz omonat (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · yue 危險嘅 /危险嘅 (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · bg несигурен (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · hu visszavonható ((law) depending on the intention of another) · ru ненадёжный (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · fi vaarallinen (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · da prekær (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · ru ша́ткий (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · ru риско́ванный (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · de gefährdet (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · cs nejistý (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · pl niebezpieczny (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · nn prekær (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · de bedenklich (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · nl precair (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · hu kétes (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · da penibel (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · cmn 危險的 /危险的 (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · de schlimm (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · de prekär (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · de unsicher (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · de bedrohlich (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · yue 不穩嘅 /不稳嘅 (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · nl precair ((law) depending on the intention of another) · uz liqildoq (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · cy ansicr (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · hu bizonytalan (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · cy simsan (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · es precario (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · yue 朝不保夕嘅 (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · pt precário (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · nl hachelijk (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · ko 다루기 어려운 (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · de heikel (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · oc precari (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · nl onbestendig (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · de schwierig (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · sv prekär (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous) · es precípite (dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous)