as in dangerous
involving potential loss or injury
a perilous journey through hostile territory
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Recent Examples of perilous
From Tapachula, migrants began the long and perilous trek through Mexico to the United States, often in large caravans.
—
Daniel Gonzalez, AZCentral.com, 29 Oct. 2025
The young girls are going back to their remote mountain village to take part in the perilous harvest of the yarsagumba, a rare creature, half mushroom, half insect, whose value exceeds that of gold.
—Annika Pham, Variety, 24 Oct. 2025
The 121-year-old park in Midtown is the scene of a child's birthday that turns perilous as gusty winds send a red kite, and the little girl holding it, soaring above the Parthenon.
—Bryan West, Nashville Tennessean, 18 Oct. 2025
The first time Kuhn met with the cardiothoracic surgeon, her condition was already perilous.
—Calmatters, Mercury News, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for perilous
Daniel Gonzalez, AZCentral.com, 29 Oct. 2025
The young girls are going back to their remote mountain village to take part in the perilous harvest of the yarsagumba, a rare creature, half mushroom, half insect, whose value exceeds that of gold.
—Annika Pham, Variety, 24 Oct. 2025
The 121-year-old park in Midtown is the scene of a child's birthday that turns perilous as gusty winds send a red kite, and the little girl holding it, soaring above the Parthenon.
—Bryan West, Nashville Tennessean, 18 Oct. 2025
The first time Kuhn met with the cardiothoracic surgeon, her condition was already perilous.
—Calmatters, Mercury News, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for perilous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for perilous
Adjective
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But the succession crisis that her sudden and dangerous illness had brought to the fore would dominate the rest of her long reign.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Nov. 2025
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Systems can be configured to identify signs of structural weaknesses, gas leaks, and other potentially dangerous stimuli emerging in hazardous areas and send data-rich alerts to operators suggesting a response.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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The result, Kahn says, is that parts of Earth’s orbital environment are rife with hazardous objects that can collide with vital space infrastructure.—
Humberto Basilio,
Scientific American,
7 Nov. 2025
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All seven patients were cleared almost immediately and no hazardous materials turned up on base, Fox News is told.—
Jennifer Griffin , Christina Shaw,
FOXNews.com,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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The right-hander generated a ground ball to get the force out at home in an extremely close call, and the very next pitch was a risky fly out tracked down by Andy Pages (who entered the game after the bases were loaded).—
Gabe Smallson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Nov. 2025
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The seedless doctrine For years, Tangem campaigned against seed phrases as risky and error-prone, arguing that paper or metal backups become a single, theft-prone secret that ordinary people routinely mishandle.—
Wyles Daniel,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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If Haaland isn’t my choice here, there should be serious consideration at The Athletic about sacking me.—
Andy Jones,
New York Times,
9 Nov. 2025
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As for the safety of the drug, about 10% of the adults taking enlicitide experienced serious adverse events during the study and a similar share, about 12%, of those taking a placebo experienced adverse events in the study.—
Jacqueline Howard,
CNN Money,
8 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Perilous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/perilous. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
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