1. affording no ease or reassurance (Freq. 4) - a precarious truce • Syn: unstable • Similar to: uneasy • Derivationally related forms: unstableness (for: unstable), precariousness 2. fraught with danger (Freq. 1) - 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 • Similar to: dangerous, unsafe • Derivationally related forms: precariousness, peril (for: perilous), perilousness (for: perilous) 3. not secure; beset with difficulties - a shaky marriage • Syn: shaky • Similar to: insecure, unsafe • Derivationally related forms: shakiness (for: shaky), precariousness
