precarity

noun

pre·​car·​i·​ty pri-ˈker-ə-tē 

: the state or condition of being precarious : precariousness

The older brother—Dave—raises the younger one, a responsibility that gives him a perpetual sense of life's urgency and precarity.

—Paul Elie

Job precarity can add to a number of social and economic challenges facing millennials including rising personal debts, growing costs of living, shrinking access to pensions and lower retirement savings.

—Arif Jetha

Examples of precarity in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Industry-specific risk factors driving the crisis include financial precarity—irregular income, lack of benefits, job insecurity—touring conditions, performance pressure, workplace culture and identity fusion. — Cathy Applefeld Olson, Forbes.com, 18 June 2026

But viral campaigns are not a solution to retail worker precarity. — Ann Larson, Time, 11 June 2026

This is the precarity-to-tradwife pipeline. — Faith Hill, The Atlantic, 8 June 2026

With rare exceptions, the America 250 exhibitions and programs of US museums reflect plans set around 2024, rather than in response to the urgency or precarity of the moment. — Greg Allen, ARTnews.com, 7 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

probably borrowed from French précarité, from précaire "granted or exercised only with the permission of another, insecure, uncertain" (going back to Middle French, borrowed from Latin precārius "given as a favor, uncertain, precarious") + -ité -ity

First Known Use

1910, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for precarity

• alterity
• asperity
• austerity
• celerity
• dexterity
• disparity
• hilarity
• molarity
• planarity
• polarity
• posterity
• prosperity