precipitous
/prɪˈsɪpɪtəs
/adjective
1Dangerously high or steep: the track skirted a precipitous drop...
- Many follow the island's 1,365 miles of irrigation channels, called levadas, stretches of which run along steep slopes with precipitous drops to one side.
- The monks' view from their cell windows was heart-stopping: a sheer drop down the precipitous wooded ravine sides to the valley floor 1,000 ft. below.
- The topography of the actual route with its monuments and trails, its rivers and bridges, its steep hills and precipitous valleys, is meticulously represented.
Synonyms
steep, sheer, high, perpendicular, abrupt, sharp, dizzy, vertiginous, vertical, bluff
rare acclivitous, declivitous
1.1(Of a change to a worse situation or condition) sudden and dramatic: a precipitous slide in the government’s popularity...
- Sugar feeds the brain, and fluctuations in the level of this fuel can lead to precipitous changes in a child's mood.
- The precipitous decrease in size and numbers of American alligators taken for trade reflected a species in decline.
- Since the 1960s we have witnessed a precipitous increase in the number of marriages ending in divorce.
Synonyms
sudden, rapid, swift, abrupt, meteoric, headlong, speedy, quick, fast, hurried, breakneck, violent, precipitate, unexpected, without warning, unanticipated, unforeseen
rare precipitant
2(Of an action) done suddenly and without careful consideration: precipitous intervention...
- If our foreign policies are rash, precipitous and not objectively thought out they will harm us domestically.
- A recognition of this epistemological complexity is itself sufficient to compel the thoughtful interpreter to avoid precipitous decisions.
- His speech highlighted the growing threat that his administration will launch a new, precipitous military adventure in the near future.
Derivatives
precipitousness
- Whilst welcoming their work, he also indicated his awareness of the precipitousness of literary fame: ‘Now let the book stand on the appointed library shelf in the long, long silence’.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from obsolete French précipiteux, from Latin praeceps, praecip(it)- 'steep, headlong' (see precipitate).