Synonyms of parlous

parlous

adjective

ˈpär-ləs 

as in dangerous

involving potential loss or injury

window washing can indeed be a parlous occupation on a skyscraper

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dangerous
• hazardous
• perilous
• risky
• serious
• precarious
• unsafe
• treacherous
• menacing
• threatening
• unhealthy
• grave
• grievous
• venturesome
• uncertain
• jeopardizing
• random
• fatal
• unpleasant
• detrimental
• bad
• destructive
• adverse
• haphazard
• dicey
• sickening
• harmful
• insecure
• dire
• chance
• lethal
• deadly
• distressing
• ugly
• injurious
• pernicious
• murderous
• deleterious
• baneful
• malignant
• inimical
• fell
• noxious
• nasty
• ill
• mortal
• wicked
• fateful
• evil
• baleful
• killer
• ultrahazardous
• hurtful
• pestilent
• deathly

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• safe
• innocuous
• innocent
• harmless
• good
• advantageous
• beneficial
• nonthreatening
• nonhazardous
• unthreatening
• ultrasafe

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of parlous

This isn’t the first time that someone has tried to use AI as a shortcut, with parlous consequences. — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2026

Despite the Soviet state’s parlous position, he was suffused with hope. — Literary Hub, 25 Feb. 2026

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

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