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

That precarity is partly due to the gap between inflation and wages. —Stephan Bisaha, NPR, 28 May 2026

Though Harry has savings discipline and financial literacy the economy delivered precarity across a working life of four-plus decades and plenty of stress at 62. —Teresa Ghilarducci, Forbes.com, 21 May 2026

The precarity of Medicaid funding adds another layer of anxiety. —Rebecca Noel, Charlotte Observer, 18 May 2026

The terrifying precarity of the present has been fertile creative ground. —Nia Coats, Pitchfork, 18 May 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