precariously

adverb

pre·​car·​i·​ous·​ly pri-ˈker-ē-əs-lē 

: in a precarious manner

These birds suspend their nests precariously among fine twigs …

—Michael Hansell

… the privilege of a tiny, precariously poised minority.

—Derek Bickerton

Waiters in white shirts and black vests roamed, trays balanced precariously but with utmost precision.

—Noah Charney

… it's now balancing precariously on the brink of extinction and has become the first-ever bumblebee to be declared endangered in the US.

—Laura Dennison

Examples of precariously in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The song arrives with a particularly idyllic music video that depicts Miller waking up in a Volkswagen bus that’s precariously perched on stilts high above the ground. —Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 5 Aug. 2025

In the opening sequence, Ethan Hunt is free climbing and hanging precariously off a rock, sometimes holding his weight with a single arm. —Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 13 May 2025

No wonder polls today find the court with precariously low public support. —Christopher Krewson, The Conversation, 17 July 2025

Center stage is a two-foot-high Roman column, with a cauldron precariously balancing atop it. —John McDermott, Rolling Stone, 6 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1646, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for precariously

• hilariously
• vicariously
• variously