precarious
Liable to fall
Precarious describes situations that are unstable, uncertain, or dangerously insecure.
A precarious balance could tip at any moment.
A precarious living barely sustains you.
Someone in a precarious position faces risk from multiple directions.
The word often implies that disaster looms if circumstances shift even slightly: The company's financial situation remains precarious.
Unstably balanced, nearly falling
- wobblyTending to teeter
- unsteadyLacking balance or stability
- totteringMoving unsteadily, nearly falling
- shakyTrembling or unstable
swaying · tippy · rickety · unstable · leaning · tilting · lopsided · off-balance
Fraught with danger
- hazardousLikely to cause injury
- riskyInvolving possible harm
- treacherousDisloyal and dangerous
- unsafeLikely to cause harm
dicey · chancy · jeopardy · threat · pitfall · cliffhanger · brink · edge
Cannot be anticipated
- volatileLiable to sudden change
- unstableProne to sudden change
- tentativeUncertain and provisional
- doubtfulUncertain of truth
questionable · iffy · unsettled · undependable · unreliable · fluctuating · shifting · changeable
Easily broken or harmed
- brittleLiable to shatter
- frailWeak and breakable
- tenuousLacking solid foundation
- flimsyWeak and easily damaged
vulnerable · breakable · crumbling · deteriorating · weakening · eroding · threadbare · gossamer
Short-term paid work
- freelanceSelf-employed project work
- contractEnforceable written agreement
- temporaryLimited in duration
- casualRelaxed and informal
insecure · underemployed · laid-off · downsized · outsourced · zero-hour · seasonal · hand-to-mouth
Requiring external support
- vulnerableOpen to attack
- subordinateOne lower in rank
- beholdenOwing thanks or duty
- contingentConditional or representative group
teetering
Unstably balanced, nearly falling
- wobblyTending to teeter
- unsteadyLacking balance or stability
- totteringMoving unsteadily, nearly falling
shaky · swaying · tippy · rickety · unstable · leaning · tilting · lopsided · off-balance · toppling
perilous
Fraught with danger
- hazardousLikely to cause injury
- riskyInvolving possible harm
- treacherousDisloyal and dangerous
unsafe · dicey · chancy · jeopardy · threat · pitfall · cliffhanger · brink · edge · knife-edge
unpredictable
Cannot be anticipated
doubtful · questionable · iffy · unsettled · undependable · unreliable · fluctuating · shifting · changeable · fickle
delicate
Easily broken or harmed
flimsy · vulnerable · breakable · crumbling · deteriorating · weakening · eroding · threadbare · gossamer · eggshell
gig
Short-term paid work
- freelanceSelf-employed project work
- contractEnforceable written agreement
- temporaryLimited in duration
casual · insecure · underemployed · laid-off · downsized · outsourced · zero-hour · seasonal · hand-to-mouth · vulnerable
reliant
Requiring external support
- vulnerableOpen to attack
- subordinateOne lower in rank
- beholdenOwing thanks or duty
contingent · conditional · lifeline · patronage · benefactor
- Danger Levelsdanger, high risk, high-risk, low risk, critical
- Precariousnessunstable, teetering, tottering, wobbly, wobbling
- survival statesalive, dead, dying, injured, safe
- vulnerabilityvulnerability, vulnerable, defenselessness, defenseless, helplessness
- wildlife statusendangered, extinct, vulnerable, threatened, rare species
- financesmoney, affluence, cash, bankrupt, income