precarious

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• General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /pɹɪˈkɛəɹi.əs/
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• Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• rhymes with -ɛəɹi.əs
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• CMU ARPABET: P R IY0 K EH1 R IY0 AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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From Latin precārius (“begged for, obtained by entreaty”), from prex, precis (“prayer”). Compare French précaire, Portuguese precário, and Spanish and Italian precario.

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh2- Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *préh2i? Proto-Italic *prai Proto-Italic *prai- Latin prae-lbor. Middle English pre- English pre- English carious English precarious From pre- + carious.

56 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Bulgarian: несигурен (nesiguren) — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Bulgarian: ненадежден (nenadežden) — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Catalan: precari — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Chinese Cantonese: 不穩嘅 /不稳嘅 — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Chinese Cantonese: 危險嘅 /危险嘅 (ngai4 him2 ge3) — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Chinese Cantonese: 朝不保夕嘅 (ziu1 bat1 bou2 zik6 ge3) — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Chinese Mandarin: 危險的 /危险的 (wēixiǎn de) — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Czech: nejistý — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Czech: prekérní — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Czech: ošidný — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Danish: prekær — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Danish: penibel — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Dutch: hachelijk — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Dutch: onzeker — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Dutch: precair — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Dutch: onbestendig — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Finnish: vaarallinen — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• French: précaire — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• German: heikel — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• German: schwierig — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• German: unsicher — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• German: prekär — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• German: schlimm — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• German: bedrohlich — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• German: gefährdet — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• German: bedenklich — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Greek: επισφαλής (episfalís) — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Hungarian: bizonytalan — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Hungarian: ingatag — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Hungarian: kétes — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Korean: 다루기 어려운 (darugi eoryeoun) — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Latin: precarius — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Norwegian Bokmål: prekær — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Norwegian Nynorsk: prekær — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Occitan: precari — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Plautdietsch: roakboa — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Polish: niebezpieczny — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Polish: niepewny — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Portuguese: precário — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Russian: опа́сный (opásnyj) — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Russian: риско́ванный (riskóvannyj) — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Russian: ненадёжный (nenadjóžnyj) — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Russian: ша́ткий (šátkij) — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Spanish: precario — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Spanish: precípite — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Swedish: prekär — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Uzbek: omonat — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Uzbek: liqildoq — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Welsh: ansicr — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Welsh: simsan — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Welsh: sigledig — dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
• Dutch: precair — (law) depending on the intention of another
• Dutch: ter bede — (law) depending on the intention of another
• German: widerruflich — (law) depending on the intention of another
• Hungarian: visszavonható — (law) depending on the intention of another
• Hungarian: engedélytől függő — (law) depending on the intention of another