adj
parlous
Parlous (adj) means Full of danger or risk.
adj
1
Full of danger or risk.
"The situation became parlous when the weather made resupply impossible."
2
Extremely bad or shocking.
"During these suppers McCluskey's conversation centred almost exclusively around the parlous moral, cultural and environmental state of the planet."
— Ben Elton (2014)
"You can learn from them, too, even in the party’s current parlous state."
— Rhymer Rigby, Sick of this Conservative government? That shouldn’t stop you having Tory friends (2023)
3
Cleverly cunning in a worrying way, or unusually impressive.
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Etymology
This word comes from Middle English parles, parlous, perlous, and other forms, a contraction of perilous ("dangerous; dreadful, terrible; morally corrupt, sinful, wicked; inauspicious, unlucky") — making it a doublet of perilous — from Old French perilleus, perillos, perillous, perilluse, perilleuse, perilleux ("very dangerous, perilous") (modern French périlleux), from Latin perīculōsus ("dangerous, hazardous, perilous"), from perīculum ("danger, hazard, peril, risk") (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- ("to go through, carry forth, try")), plus -ōsus, a suffix meaning 'full of, prone to' used to form adjectives.
Synonyms
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Rhymes for parlous
See all rhymes for parlous →Frequently asked questions
What is the meaning of parlous?
"parlous" (adj) means full of danger or risk.
What is another word for parlous?
Other words for "parlous" include perilous, precarious.
What is the opposite of parlous?
The opposite of "parlous" is safe.
What are the different meanings of parlous?
"parlous" has 3 main meanings: 1. Full of danger or risk; 2. Extremely bad or shocking; 3. Cleverly cunning in a worrying way, or unusually impressive.
