precarious
Not safe or steady, and likely to fall or fail at any moment.
precarious in a sentence
- The books rose in a precarious tower that wobbled every time the door opened.
- The mountain goat stood on a precarious ledge that looked far too narrow to hold it.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to precarious?
- Astable
- Bwobbly
- Csafe
- Dsteady
Show the answer
B: wobbly. The other three mean the opposite of precarious.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to precarious?
- Asteady
- Brisky
- Cwobbly
- Dshaky
Show the answer
A: steady. The other three mean nearly the same as precarious.
Words that mean something similar
wobbly, shaky, risky
Words that mean the opposite
steady, stable, safe
More words about places & settings
- quaint: Charming in an old-fashioned way.
- ravine: A deep, narrow valley with steep sides.
- reek: To smell very strongly and unpleasantly.
- refuge: A safe place to shelter from danger.
- remote: Far away from towns and hard to reach.
- reside: To live in a particular place.
- rugged: Rough, rocky and uneven, or strong and tough.
- rural: To do with the countryside rather than the town.
More words to explore
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test