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precarious meaning and examples

2025-09-07

Meaning

Precarious means not secure, uncertain, or dangerously unstable. It can describe physical situations (like a shaky ladder) or abstract ones (like uncertain finances or jobs).

Grammar and Usage

  • Part of speech: Adjective

  • Used to describe nouns that are unstable, uncertain, or risky.

  • Common structures:

    • "a precarious situation"
    • "be in a precarious position"
    • "a precarious balance"

Common Phrases

  • precarious position
  • precarious balance
  • precarious situation
  • precarious employment
  • live a precarious life

Collocations

  • Adjective + Noun: precarious job, precarious existence, precarious ladder
  • Verb + Adjective: make precarious, become precarious, remain precarious
  • Adverb + Adjective: extremely precarious, highly precarious

Examples

  1. The cat was sitting on a precarious ledge.
  2. He found himself in a precarious position after losing his main source of income.
  3. The country’s economy is still precarious despite recent growth.
  4. She balanced the vase on a precarious stack of books.
  5. Their future remains precarious because of the ongoing conflict.
  6. Many part-time workers live in precarious financial conditions.
  7. He walked across the precarious rope bridge with great caution.
  8. The ceasefire is precarious, and fighting could resume at any time.
  • unstable
  • insecure
  • uncertain
  • shaky
  • risky
  • unreliable

Antonym

  • stable
  • secure
  • firm
  • safe