Definition of: precarious

(pri·kâr′ē·əs) adjective
1. Subject to continued risk; that may be taken away at another's pleasure or by accident; uncertain.
2. Subject or leading to danger; hazardous.
3. Not firmly established; untrustworthy; without foundation. [<L precarius. See PRAYER.]
—pre·car′i·ous·ly adverb
—pre·car′i·ous·ness noun Synonyms: doubtful, dubious, equivocal, hazardous, insecure, perilous, risky, unassured, uncertain, unsettled, unstable, unsteady. Uncertain is applied to things that human knowledge cannot certainly determine or that human power cannot certainly control; precarious originally meant dependent on the will or pleasure of another; now it also means dependent on chance or hazard; one holds office by a precarious tenure, or land by a precarious title; the strong man's hold on life is uncertain, the invalid's is precarious. Antonyms: assured, certain, firm, immutable, incontestable, settled, stable, steady, strong, sure, undoubted, unquestionable.