precarious

pre·car·i·ous | \ pri-ˈker-ē-əs

Definition of precarious

1a : dependent on chance circumstances, unknown conditions, or uncertain developments … forced to earn a precarious living as a door-to-door salesman.— Peter Ackroyd Their wealth was precarious, liable to be seized by the sultan if they fell from favour …— Albert Hourani … the resilience of our still-evolving planet, where life is always precarious but always tenacious.— Robert MacKenzie

b : characterized by a lack of security or stability that threatens with danger His balance looks precarious, and I try to talk him down …— Blake Morrison In spite of his precarious emotional state, he wrote more than two dozen books …— Liesl Schillinger At 82 years old, she was in precarious health and had respiratory problems.— Annabelle Olivier … a downturn in food supply could tip a precarious balance.— Mary Cherry If the condition of the biosphere is even half as precarious as the environmentalists suggest, then the twenty-first century must, of necessity, abandon the theory of value so lovingly displayed in the windows of Bloomingdale's.— Lewis H. Lapham

2 : dependent on uncertain premises : dubious … the student of psychology who cares little for brilliant precarious generalizations … — Baltimore Medical Journal and Bulletin

3 archaic : depending on the will or pleasure of another In rank and authority these officers seemed not inferior to the ancient proconsuls; but their station was dependent and precarious.— Edward Gibbon

Other Words from precarious Choose the Right Synonym Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about precarious

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Choose the Right Synonym for precarious

dangerous, hazardous, precarious, perilous, risky mean bringing or involving the chance of loss or injury. dangerous applies to something that may cause harm or loss unless dealt with carefully. soldiers on a dangerous mission hazardous implies great and continuous risk of harm or failure. claims that smoking is hazardous to your health precarious suggests both insecurity and uncertainty. earned a precarious living by gambling perilous strongly implies the immediacy of danger. perilous mountain roads risky often applies to a known and accepted danger. shied away from risky investments

Did You Know?

This little happiness is so very precarious, that it wholly depends on the will of others. Joseph Addison, in a 1711 issue of Spectator magazine, couldn't have described the oldest sense of precarious more precisely-the original meaning of the word was "depending on the will or pleasure of another." Prayers and entreaties directed at that "other" might or might not help, but what precariousness really hangs on, in the end, is prex, the Latin word for prayer. From prex came the Latin word precarius, meaning "obtained by entreaty," from whence came our own adjective precarious. Anglo-French priere, also from precarius, gave us prayer.

Examples of precarious in a Sentence

These states are corrupt and brutal. They are theocracies, or precarious autocracies, or secular totalitarian states: tyrannies all, deniers of freedom, republics of fear, enemies of civility and human flourishing. — Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review, 15 Oct. 2001 Such folks led a precarious existence, their homes routinely destroyed in pursuit of a scorched earth policy whenever Florence came under siege. — R. W. B. Lewis, Dante, 2001 She was the first baby he had ever held; he had thought it would be a precarious experience, shot through with fear of dropping something so precious and fragile, but no, in even the smallest infant there was an adhesive force, a something that actively fit your arms and hands, banishing the fear. — John Updike, The Afterlife, 1994 He earned a precarious livelihood by gambling. The strong wind almost knocked him off of his precarious perch on the edge of the cliff.

Recent Examples on the Web That’s the precarious position that Murray is in with his barbershop. — Erin Allday, SFChronicle.com, "Bay Area counties are poised to reopen again. Have they learned from past mistakes?," 4 Sep. 2020 Samm Sacks, a cyberpolicy fellow at the think tank New America, said the Trump administration was likely to counter China’s latest move with its own, and that more U.S. companies operating in China could be in an increasingly precarious position. — Mike Isaac, New York Times, "TikTok Deal Faces Complications as U.S. and China Ratchet Up Tit-for-Tat," 31 Aug. 2020 Their dignity is therefore in a precarious position. — Popular Science, "Convincing someone to wear a mask is hard, but not impossible," 30 Aug. 2020 The number of positive COVID-19 tests from a specific facility that might actually be false demonstrates the precarious position the NFL is in less than three weeks from the regular-season opener. — Barry Wilner, Star Tribune, "NFL positive COVID-19 tests from NJ lab could be false," 23 Aug. 2020 The number of positive COVID-19 tests from a specific facility that might actually be false demonstrates the precarious position the NFL is in less than three weeks from the regular-season opener. — Barry Wilner, Houston Chronicle, "NFL positive COVID-19 tests from New Jersey lab could be false," 23 Aug. 2020 The number of positive COVID-19 tests from a specific facility that might actually be false demonstrates the precarious position the NFL is in less than three weeks from the regular-season opener. — Barry Wilner, Star Tribune, "NFL positive COVID-19 tests from NJ lab could be false," 23 Aug. 2020 The number of positive COVID-19 tests from a specific facility that might actually be false demonstrates the precarious position the NFL is in less than three weeks from the regular-season opener. — Barry Wilner, Houston Chronicle, "NFL positive COVID-19 tests from New Jersey lab could be false," 23 Aug. 2020 Taipei also finds itself in an increasingly precarious position in the US-China tech war, as the world becomes ever more dependent on Taiwanese company TSMC for the most advanced semiconductors. — Sherisse Pham, CNN, "Taiwan announces ban on Chinese streaming services Tencent and iQiyi," 19 Aug. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'precarious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.