Something that is precarious is not securely held in place and seems likely to fall or collapse at any moment. They looked rather comical as they crawled up precarious ladders. + precariously pre·cari·ous·ly One of my grocery bags was still precariously perched on the car bumper
affording no ease or reassurance; "a precarious truce" not secure; beset with difficulties; "a shaky marriage" dangerously insecure; "a precarious footing on the ladder
If your situation is precarious, you are not in complete control of events and might fail in what you are doing at any moment. Our financial situation had become precarious. the Government's precarious position. = uncertain secure + precariously pre·cari·ous·ly The hunter-gatherer lifestyle today survives precariously in remote regions. + precariousness pre·cari·ous·ness Wells was well aware of the precariousness of human life
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
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"