Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
PRECARIOUS
precarious, unstable
(adjective) affording no ease or reassurance; “a precarious truce”
parlous, perilous, precarious, touch-and-go
(adjective) fraught with danger; “dangerous waters”; “a parlous journey on stormy seas”; “a perilous voyage across the Atlantic in a small boat”; “the precarious life of an undersea diver”; “dangerous surgery followed by a touch-and-go recovery”
precarious, shaky
(adjective) not secure; beset with difficulties; “a shaky marriage”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Adjective
precarious (comparative more precarious, superlative most precarious)
(comparable) Dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous.
(legal) Depending on the intention of another.
Usage notes
Because the pre- element of precarious derives from prex and not the preposition prae, this term cannot — etymologically speaking — be written as *præcarious.
Synonyms
• (not held or fixed securely and likely to fall over): unsteady, rickety, shaky, tottering, unsafe, unstable, wobbly
Etymology 2
pre- + carious
Adjective
precarious (not comparable)
(dentistry) Relating to incipient caries.
Source: Wiktionary
Pre*ca"ri*ous, a. Etym: [L. precarius obtained by begging or prayer, depending on request or on the will of another, fr. precari to pray, beg. See Pray.]
1. Depending on the will or pleasure of another; held by courtesy; liable to be changed or lost at the pleasure of another; as, precarious privileges. Addison.
2. Held by a doubtful tenure; depending on unknown causes or events; exposed to constant risk; not to be depended on for certainty or stability; uncertain; as, a precarious state of health; precarious fortunes. "Intervals of partial and precarious liberty." Macaulay.
Syn.
– Uncertain; unsettled; unsteady; doubtful; dubious; equivocal.
– Precarious, Uncertain. Precarious in stronger than uncertain. Derived originally from the Latin precari, it first signified "granted to entreaty," and, hence, "wholly dependent on the will of another." Thus it came to express the highest species of uncertainty, and is applied to such things as depend wholly on future casualties.
– Pre*ca"ri*ous*ly, adv.
– Pre*ca"ri*ous*ness, n.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
26 June 2025
DISPIRITEDLY
(adverb) in a dispirited manner without hope; “the first Mozartian opera to be subjected to this curious treatment ran dispiritedly for five performances”
Coffee Trivia
