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📕 rednote ID(小红书号)：3881567312

Precarious: Definition, Usage & Common Examples (2 meaning)

Meaning 1：unstable and risky (precarious)

precarious 🔊

/prɪˈkeəriəs/

adj.

Something that is not steady or secure and could fall or break easily.

Precarious meaning illustrated by a teetering tower of colorful blocks about to fall.

unstable and risky 🔊

➕

/ʌnˈsteɪbəl ænd ˈrɪski/

adj.

Describes something physically unsound, not firmly fixed, and in danger of collapsing or causing harm.

📁 Category：Buildings & Places 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Latin *precarius* (obtained by prayer or request), from *prex* (prayer).

💡 Mnemonic

Picture a precarious stack of plates: you PRAY it doesn't topple. Links to 'precarious' (risky).

📖 Example

The workers carefully crossed the precarious bridge made of old wooden planks. 🔊 The workers carefully crossed the unstable and risky bridge made of old wooden planks.

🔗 Collocations

precarious position – a situation involving physical risk or instability

precarious balance – a very delicate and easily disturbed state of equilibrium

precarious ledge – a narrow, unsafe shelf of rock or similar structure

🔄 Synonyms

unstable (adj.) – not firm or steady; likely to give way or fail

rickety (adj.) – weak or shaky, likely to collapse

tottering (adj.) – swaying or shaking as if about to fall

🚫 Antonyms

stable (adj.) – firmly fixed, not likely to give way or overturn

secure (adj.) – fixed firmly, not likely to fail or give way

steady (adj.) – firmly fixed, supported, or balanced

📖 Cultural Story

The word entered English in the 1600s via Latin. Its root meaning 'obtained by prayer' implies something held at another's pleasure, not by right, which evolved into the sense of being uncertain, dependent on chance, and therefore unsafe.

Meaning 2：uncertain and unstable (precarious)

precarious 🔊

/prɪˈkeəriəs/

adj.

A situation that is not safe or certain and could change for the worse at any time.

Precarious situation depicted by a person balancing dangerously over a deep pit.

uncertain and unstable 🔊

➕

/ʌnˈsɜːrtən ænd ʌnˈsteɪbəl/

adj.

Describes a situation, condition, or livelihood that is not safe or reliable, and is vulnerable to sudden negative change.

📁 Category：Social Economy 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Example

Many freelancers have a precarious income, which makes it hard to plan for the long term. 🔊 Many freelancers have an uncertain and unstable income, which makes it hard to plan for the long term.

🔗 Collocations

precarious employment – work that is insecure, uncertain, or lacks benefits

precarious situation – a condition fraught with risk and uncertainty

precarious existence – a way of life that is vulnerable and lacks security

🔄 Synonyms

uncertain (adj.) – not able to be relied on; not known or definite

insecure (adj.) – not firmly fixed; liable to give way or fail

perilous (adj.) – full of danger or risk

🚫 Antonyms

secure (adj.) – free from danger or threat; certain to remain safe

stable (adj.) – not likely to change or fail; firmly established

certain (adj.) – able to be firmly relied on to happen or be the case

🌱 Derivatives

precariously (adv.) – in a way that is not securely held or in position; dangerously

precariousness (n.) – the state or quality of being dangerously unstable or uncertain