English Explanatory Dictionary

parlous

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Attended with peril; dangerous, risky.
  2. Appalling, dire, terrible.
  3. Dangerously clever or cunning; also, remarkably good or unusual.
adv
  1. Extremely, very.

Pronunciation

/ˈpɑːləs/ En-uk-parlous.oga /ˈpɑɹləs/

Word forms

parlous more parlous most parlous

Etymology

From Middle English parles, parlous, perlous, [and other forms], a contraction of perilous (“dangerous; dreadful, terrible; morally corrupt, sinful, wicked; inauspicious, unlucky”) (and thus a doublet of perilous), from Old French perilleus, perillos, perillous, perilluse, perilleuse, perilleux (“very dangerous, perilous”) (modern French périlleux), from Latin perīculōsus (“dangerous, hazardous, perilous”), from perīculum (“danger, hazard, peril, risk”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to go through, carry forth, try”)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of, prone to’ forming adjectives).

Synonyms

dangerous dangersome hazardous jeopardous wicked parlous periculous perilous precarious risky unsafe

Related words

imperil imperilment peril perilous perilously perilousness

Derived words

parlously parlousness
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