as in dangerous
involving potential loss or injury
window washing can indeed be a parlous occupation on a skyscraper
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Recent Examples of parlous
Declining revenues combined with soaring wage costs shifted the club’s finances into a parlous state.
—
Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 5 Feb. 2026
The increasingly parlous state of Francophone West Africa’s second-largest economy led to a credit downgrade by S&P in July which has pushed up borrowing costs.
—semafor.com, 10 Nov. 2025
Reflecting wider financial market nerves around the parlous state of French politics, the yield on France’s 30-year bond yield rose above 4.5% on Tuesday — hitting a level last seen in 2008 — before lightly easing to to 4.48% on Wednesday.
—Holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 4 Sep. 2025
Put more directly, the idea of taking a nap in the Royal Box within arm’s length of the Queen during a Wimbledon match seems a parlous choice of lollygagging terrain.
—Guy Martin, Forbes.com, 12 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for parlous
Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 5 Feb. 2026
The increasingly parlous state of Francophone West Africa’s second-largest economy led to a credit downgrade by S&P in July which has pushed up borrowing costs.
—semafor.com, 10 Nov. 2025
Reflecting wider financial market nerves around the parlous state of French politics, the yield on France’s 30-year bond yield rose above 4.5% on Tuesday — hitting a level last seen in 2008 — before lightly easing to to 4.48% on Wednesday.
—Holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 4 Sep. 2025
Put more directly, the idea of taking a nap in the Royal Box within arm’s length of the Queen during a Wimbledon match seems a parlous choice of lollygagging terrain.
—Guy Martin, Forbes.com, 12 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for parlous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for parlous
Adjective
-
Police on Friday closed Kensington Gardens, a central London park visited by thousands of tourists and local residents every day, after a group that Israel has linked to Iran posted a video claiming Israel’s nearby London embassy was going to be attacked with drones carrying dangerous substances.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Portage police added that while some students play the game safely using brightly colored water guns, others have created dangerous situations that can trigger panic.—
Ashley Vega,
PEOPLE,
20 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Photos shared by the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office showed the hazardous road conditions as well as the aftermath of the collisions.—
Angel Saunders,
PEOPLE,
16 Apr. 2026
-
Most hazardous leaks are caused by third-party digging.—
Lexi Salazar,
CBS News,
15 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The bloc doesn’t have a mechanism to expel a wayward member, but Western diplomats told me that brazen electoral theft would inaugurate a perilous new era.—
Isaac Stanley-Becker,
The Atlantic,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Four astronauts are preparing for a perilous return through Earth's atmosphere to make a splashdown near California and put the finishing touches on a moon-circling mission that will etch their names in history.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
However, travel into Port-au-Prnce by air remains risky.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
21 Apr. 2026
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Nobody wants to be the person who approved the risky idea that failed.—
Seth Yudof,
Rolling Stone,
21 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Fiapoto is only the latest Tre-4 member to face serious charges in Contra Costa, where five members and associates were sent to prison last year for a series of jewelry robberies, including one that resulted in a homicide in Lafayette.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
17 Apr. 2026
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Heal, who is fifty, only became a serious Catholic in his late thirties, and had spent the first part of his career as a firefighter in Arizona.—
Emma Green,
New Yorker,
17 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Navigating the dump was precarious.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
15 Apr. 2026
-
Recent federal legislation has made the financial outlook for rural hospitals more precarious.—
Daniel R. George,
The Conversation,
14 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Parlous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/parlous. Accessed 22 Apr. 2026.
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