Word of the Day

Tuesday, November 21, 2000

parlous

\PAR-luhs\ , adjective;

Attended with peril; fraught with danger; hazardous.

Quotes:

It was a parlous time on the Continent, when Communists and fascists vied brutally for supremacy.

-- Howard Simons, "Shots Seen Round the World", New York Times, September 22, 1985

The Crisis left Indonesia's state finances in such a parlous state that the government is now heavily exposed to future risks.

-- Penny Crisp and Jose Manuel Tesoro, "The Buck Stops Here", Asiaweek, July 7, 2000

Origin:

Parlous derives from Old French perillous, perilleus, from Latin periculosus, adjective form of periculum, "peril, danger, hazard."