precariously

adverb

pre·​car·​i·​ous·​ly pri-ˈker-ē-əs-lē 

: in a precarious manner

These birds suspend their nests precariously among fine twigs …

—Michael Hansell

… the privilege of a tiny, precariously poised minority.

—Derek Bickerton

Waiters in white shirts and black vests roamed, trays balanced precariously but with utmost precision.

—Noah Charney

… it's now balancing precariously on the brink of extinction and has become the first-ever bumblebee to be declared endangered in the US.

—Laura Dennison

Examples of precariously in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The practice started in the Netherlands in the 1980s and has long attracted artists, musicians and other creatives in search of enough square footage to do their work, as well as those prepared to live more precariously. —Anna Cooban, CNN, 31 Jan. 2025

For an able-bodied performer like Wang, this leaves the right hand free to take on the job of cuing the trumpets, trombone, tuba and flute who enter into an array of precariously delicate partnerships. —Corinna Da Fonseca-Wollheim, New York Times, 24 Jan. 2025

Everything is precariously piled to the ceiling with sparse, dangerous paths that lead through each room. —R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 21 Jan. 2025

Here are some examples that caught our attention: In Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, a panicked fawn struggled to gain stability after wandering onto precariously thin ice on the Potomac River. —Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 20 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1646, in the meaning defined above