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

Given the widespread unemployment and financial precarity in Nigeria, cyberfraud can seem like an appealing way—sometimes the only way—to earn a living. —Christine Ro, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025

In an age of climate anxiety, economic precarity and burnout, the instinct to scale back shouldn’t be confused with giving up. —The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Aug. 2025

His newfound precarity is not romanticized, it is presented as the necessary alternative to a less suitable path. —Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire, 29 Aug. 2025

At a macro-economic level, income inequality has increased, poverty and rental precarity have risen, progress on indicators of racial equity such as the Black-white wealth gap has stalled. —Manann Donoghoe, Time, 28 Aug. 2025

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