Definitions for: Precarious

[adj] affording no ease or reassurance; "a precarious truce"
[adj] fraught with danger; "dangerous waters"; "a parlous journey on stormy seas"; "a perilous voyage across the Atlantic in a small boat"; "the precarious life of an undersea diver"; "dangerous surgery followed by a touch-and-go recovery"
[adj] not secure; beset with difficulties; "a shaky marriage"
[adj] dangerously insecure; "a precarious footing on the ladder"

Webster (1913) Definition: Pre*ca"ri*ous, a. [L. precarius obtained by begging
or prayer, depending on request or on the will of another,
fr. precari to pray, beg. See Pray.]
1. Depending on the will or pleasure of another; held by
courtesy; liable to be changed or lost at the pleasure of
another; as, precarious privileges. --Addison.

2. Held by a doubtful tenure; depending on unknown causes or
events; exposed to constant risk; not to be depended on
for certainty or stability; uncertain; as, a precarious
state of health; precarious fortunes. ``Intervals of
partial and precarious liberty.'' --Macaulay.

Syn: Uncertain; unsettled; unsteady; doubtful; dubious;
equivocal.

Usage: Precarious, Uncertain. Precarious in stronger than
uncertain. Derived originally from the Latin precari,
it first signified ``granted to entreaty,'' and,
hence, ``wholly dependent on the will of another.''
Thus it came to express the highest species of
uncertainty, and is applied to such things as depend
wholly on future casualties. -- Pre*ca"ri*ous*ly,
adv. -- Pre*ca"ri*ous*ness, n.

Synonyms: dangerous, insecure, parlous, perilous, shaky, touch-and-go, uneasy, unsafe, unstable

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