as in hastily
with excessive or careless speed
the sight of swimmers exiting the water precipitously when some joker shouted "Shark!"
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Recent Examples of precipitously
The Washington National Opera (WNO), which had been in residence at the Kennedy Center since 1971, also severed its ties in January after ticket sales dropped precipitously.
—
Anastasia Tsioulcas, NPR, 26 Mar. 2026
Already disruption to the Gulf energy production and export system, including Iranian drone and missile attacks, has seen oil and gas revenues that are usually calculated in the billions of dollars a day drop precipitously, if not to zero, since the Iran war began.
—Matthew Chance, CNN Money, 23 Mar. 2026
Vaccination rates climbed, and measles cases dropped precipitously.
—Patricia Callahan, ProPublica, 19 Mar. 2026
Its shares initially soared before falling precipitously since its debut.
—Lillian Rizzo, CNBC, 2 Mar. 2026
Those calls intensified as the temperature precipitously dropped and several people died because of the cold, despite none of the 20 who died lived in an encampment.
—Deborah Berkman, New York Daily News, 24 Feb. 2026
Over the subsequent decades, however, those launch costs dropped precipitously.
—Big Think, 24 Feb. 2026
And the number of children living in the city has dropped precipitously by about 10,000 in the last 15 years.
—Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 21 Feb. 2026
With the advent of globalization and neo-liberal trade policies, that number has fallen precipitously to a mere 3 percent today.
—Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 20 Feb. 2026
Anastasia Tsioulcas, NPR, 26 Mar. 2026
Already disruption to the Gulf energy production and export system, including Iranian drone and missile attacks, has seen oil and gas revenues that are usually calculated in the billions of dollars a day drop precipitously, if not to zero, since the Iran war began.
—Matthew Chance, CNN Money, 23 Mar. 2026
Vaccination rates climbed, and measles cases dropped precipitously.
—Patricia Callahan, ProPublica, 19 Mar. 2026
Its shares initially soared before falling precipitously since its debut.
—Lillian Rizzo, CNBC, 2 Mar. 2026
Those calls intensified as the temperature precipitously dropped and several people died because of the cold, despite none of the 20 who died lived in an encampment.
—Deborah Berkman, New York Daily News, 24 Feb. 2026
Over the subsequent decades, however, those launch costs dropped precipitously.
—Big Think, 24 Feb. 2026
And the number of children living in the city has dropped precipitously by about 10,000 in the last 15 years.
—Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 21 Feb. 2026
With the advent of globalization and neo-liberal trade policies, that number has fallen precipitously to a mere 3 percent today.
—Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 20 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for precipitously
Adverb
-
The gate also has several holes and breaches that have been hastily repaired.—
Rebecca White,
New York Daily News,
21 Mar. 2026
-
Another young woman dripped blood down her nose from a gash hastily covered by a strip of fabric tied around her forehead just blocks away, while still walking into the masses along the route with her friends.—
Grace Zokovitch,
Boston Herald,
16 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
Local media reported that unidentified people brought the bodies from elsewhere in a vehicle belonging to the government and hurriedly buried them.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
26 Mar. 2026
-
Everything—from the squat, one-story structure to the station wagon parked outside—had been coated in the same uneven layer of white paint, as if someone had tried, hurriedly, to erase it from the landscape.—
Adam Ciralsky,
Vanity Fair,
19 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
In You, Me & Tuscany, Anna (Bailey) impulsively jets off to the Italian countryside to stay in a stranger’s villa sans permission.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
22 Mar. 2026
-
Beyond prison time, authorities warn of the lasting impact of a felony conviction, particularly for teenagers and young adults who may act impulsively online without understanding the consequences.—
Raul Trey Lopez,
San Antonio Express-News,
19 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Precipitously.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/precipitously. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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