parlous
Full of risk
Parlous means dangerous, perilous, or precarious—typically describing situations rather than physical threats: The company finds itself in a parlous financial state.
The word is literary and somewhat archaic, lending a formal or old-fashioned tone.
It occasionally appears as an intensifying adverb meaning exceedingly: parlous cold weather.
Likely to cause injury
- precariousDangerously insecure
- direExtremely serious or urgent
- dangerousApt to cause harm
- riskyInvolving possible harm
jeopardous · menacing · threatening · ominous · grave · critical · alarming · unsafe
Cannot be anticipated
- dubiousOf uncertain reliability
- unsettledNot yet resolved
- tentativeUncertain and provisional
- ambiguousHaving multiple interpretations
questionable · speculative · doubtful · insecure · shaky · hazy · indeterminate · unreliable
Serious and worrying
- severeExtremely harsh or strict
- criticalExpressing disapproval or importance
- extremeFurthest from moderate
- seriousWeighty and requiring attention
grim · desperate · calamitous · disastrous · catastrophic · grievous · acute · urgent
hazardous
Likely to cause injury
- precariousDangerously insecure
- direExtremely serious or urgent
- dangerousApt to cause harm
risky · jeopardous · menacing · threatening · ominous · grave · critical · alarming · unsafe · fraught
unpredictable
Cannot be anticipated
ambiguous · questionable · speculative · doubtful · insecure · shaky · hazy · indeterminate · unreliable · fitful
grave
Serious and worrying
- severeExtremely harsh or strict
- criticalExpressing disapproval or importance
- extremeFurthest from moderate
serious · grim · desperate · calamitous · disastrous · catastrophic · grievous · acute · urgent · drastic
peradventure
Archaic term for perhaps
perchance · mayhap · erstwhile · yore · antiquated · old-fashioned · dated · quaint · literary · formal
parloussafe
Free from peril
secure · harmless · nonhazardous · nonthreatening · unthreatening
peril, perilous, imperil, perils, perilously, imperiled, imperiling, imperilled, imperilling