From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishprecariouspre‧car‧i‧ous /prɪˈkeəriəs $ -ˈker-/ adjective 1 RISKa precarious situation or state is one which may very easily or quickly become worse Her health remained precarious, despite the treatment. the company’s precarious financial position2 BALANCElikely to fall, or likely to cause someone to fall a precarious mountain trail —precariously adverb a cup of tea balanced precariously on her knee —precariousness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
precarious• The living conditions of many of these migrants in illegal squatter settlements is often precarious.• His political position has become extremely precarious.• The release of the individual from accountability lays a precarious basis for a new democratic political culture.• The typical peasant farmer has a precarious existence, at the mercy of flood, disease and famine.• The path down to the beach was a precarious one, tiny steps hewn out of the sheer rock face.• a precarious peace• The bottle was in a precarious position on the edge of the table.• No one would lend money to a company in such a precarious position.• We had to cross a precarious rope bridge.• In his precarious state he became a friend of Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan.• Levin is in a precarious state of health.• Mary Mara makes the volatile Ruth a mainspring of precarious tension, capable of a solitary three-way argument over a peanut-butter sandwich.• Are you sure he's safe on that ladder? It looks very precarious up there.• Grégoire was now hemmed in by the tiny precarious wine table.precarious ... position• Alive, but in a very precarious position.• In some countries the drive for rugby excellence pushed student rugby into a precarious position.• It was a long, tense moment as they adjusted the ropes and wrestled with the banner in their precarious position.• The rigger was in the more precarious position.• Because of its sometimes precarious economic position, no rank would refuse to accept the king's wage.• The result was seen as having strengthened the somewhat precarious position of Prime Minster Toshiki Kaifu within the party.• In this precarious financial position, the party can hardly afford the restrictions on its fund-raising recently decreed by President Clinton.Origin precarious (1600-1700) Latin precarius “got by asking, uncertain” 