precarious

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pre|cari|ous /prɪk'eəriəs/
1 [ADJ]
If your situation is precarious, you are not in complete control of events and might fail in what you are doing at any moment.
Our financial situation had become precarious.
...the Government's precarious position.
= uncertain
≠ secure
● precariously [ADV] ADV with v, ADV adj/adv
The hunter-gatherer lifestyle today survives precariously in remote regions.
● precariousness [N-UNCOUNT] usu N of n
Wells was well aware of the precariousness of human life.
2 [ADJ]
Something that is precarious is not securely held in place and seems likely to fall or collapse at any moment.
They looked rather comical as they crawled up precarious ladders.
● precariously [ADV] ADV with v, ADV adj/adv
One of my grocery bags was still precariously perched on the car bumper.

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