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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Precarious \Pre*ca"ri*ous\, adjective [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}, adverb -- {Pre*ca"ri*ous*ness}, noun
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
precarious
adjective
1: affording no ease or reassurance; "a precarious truce" [syn: {unstable}]
2: 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" [syn: {parlous}, {perilous}, {touch-and-go}]
3: dangerously insecure; "a precarious footing on the ladder"
4: not secure; beset with difficulties; "a shaky marriage" [syn: {shaky}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
54 Moby Thesaurus words for "precarious": ambiguous, borderline, chancy, critical, dangerous, delicate, desultory, dicey, difficult, doubtful, dubious, equivocal, hairy, hazardous, iffy, indecisive, infirm, insecure, insubstantial, on slippery ground, on thin ice, open, perilous, problematic, provisional, questionable, risky, sensitive, shaky, shifting, shifty, slippery, slippy, temporary, tentative, ticklish, touch-and-go, touchy, treacherous, tricky, uncertain, undependable, unfaithworthy, unpredictable, unreliable, unsettled, unsolid, unsound, unstable, unsteadfast, unsteady, unsubstantial, unsure, untrustworthy
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