Precariousness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The state characterized by instability and risk due to uncertain conditions A situation marked by lack of security and reliance on unpredictable external factors The quality of being susceptible to danger from fluctuating circumstances
2. The condition of lacking stability or assurance, often exposed to potential harm or failure
3. A circumstance marked by uncertain support and the possibility of sudden change or collapse

Etymology: "Precariousness" is a plain English formation: the adjective "precarious" plus the suffix "-ness," which turns an adjective into a noun for a state or quality. The adjective "precarious" is the older and more interesting part of the story. It comes from Latin "precarius," meaning obtained by prayer or granted as a favour, from "prex" ("prayer"). A "precarious" holding in Roman law was something you held only at another person's pleasure, revocable at will, so a thing gained by asking rather than by right was inherently insecure. That legal sense of dependence on another's goodwill carried into English and gradually broadened into the general idea of something unstable or resting on chance. The suffix "-ness," from Old English "-nes," has been attached to English adjectives for over a thousand years, which is why the noun is so easy to form from its base.

Synonyms: uncertainty, danger, risk

Antonyms: stability, security