parlous

adj.

1. Perilous; dangerous: "starting from scratch in parlous economic times" (Madalynne Reuter).
2. Obsolete. Dangerously cunning.

[Middle English, variant of perilous, perilous, from peril, peril. See peril.]

parlously par'lous·ly adv.

(PAR-luhs)

adjective
Perilous, dangerous, hazardous.

adverb
Very, greatly.

Etymology
From Middle English, variant of perilous.

Usage
"During two years of peace so far, the UNF Government had been able to develop the country's parlous economy from a negative growth rate to over plus five per cent as well as create atmosphere of living free of anxiety and fear." — Deshabandu Karu Jayasuriya; Independence Day Messages; Daily News (Colombo, Sri Lanka); Feb 3, 2004.

"The unhealthy commercial dominance of South Korea by its big business conglomerates, or chaebol, is legendary, as is the parlous state of some chaebol finances." — South Korean finance: Junk Funk; The Economist (London, UK); Dec 5, 1998.

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New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd refers to Iraq alliteratively as "our parlous protectorate," implying that the US is not doing a very good job protecting its protectorate:

"In Hollywood terms, we've reached an Indiana Jones crisis moment in our parlous protectorate. The cave is collapsing, the snakes are encroaching, the vehicles are exploding, the crushing ball is rolling down on us."

Link: Nipping and Tucking on Both Coasts

Posted March 9, 2006.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

adjective

Involving possible risk, loss, or injury: adventurous, chancy, dangerous, hazardous, jeopardous, perilous, risky, treacherous, unsafe, venturesome, venturous. Slang hairy. See safety/danger.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - farlig
adv. - vældig

Nederlands (Dutch)
gevaarlijk, uitgekookt, moeilijk

Français (French)
adj. - alarmant
adv. - de manière alarmante

Deutsch (German)
adj. - kritisch, prekär
adv. - sehr

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - επισφαλής
adv. - (απαρχ.) λίαν

Italiano (Italian)
precario, pericoloso, rischioso, pericolosamente

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - perigoso, sagaz
adv. - astuciosamente, excessivamente

Русский (Russian)
опасный, ужасный, опасно, ужасно

Español (Spanish)
adj. - alarmante, peligroso
adv. - en forma o de manera alarmante o peligrosa

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - farlig, svår, kinkig
adv. - väldigt, mäkta

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
危险的, 麻烦的, 不易对付的, 非常地, 极度地

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 危險的, 麻煩的, 不易對付的
adv. - 非常地, 極度地

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 위험한, 다루기 힘든, 빈틈없는
adv. - 몹시, 매우

日本語 (Japanese)
adv. - きわめて

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) خطر, خطير, محنك, داهيه (ظرف) كثير, جدا‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮מסוכן, קשה‬
adv. - ‮לגמרי‬

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