Word of the Day

Thursday January 14, 2010

• Today's Word |
• Yesterday's Word |
• Previous Words |
• Subscribe Now

parlous [PAR-luhs]

adjective

1. Attended with peril; fraught with danger; as, a parlous cough.

• Late, great state: Larry Fink, in an interview I conducted with him in June, when BlackRock Inc.'s acquisition of San Francisco's Barclays Global Investors was announced, said one of the most serious drags on the U.S. economy was the parlous financial condition of California.
  Andrew S Ross, "The good old days may be gone for good", San Francisco Chronicle, Dec 25, 2009
• Last week Gartner published figures that indicate Microsoft's parlous position. This time last year, it had 11 per cent of the global smartphone market. A year on, its share has dropped to 7.9 per cent.
  Danny O’Brien, "Microsoft risks losing its grip in smartphone revolution", Irish Times, Nov 20, 2009
• A sea voyage in these parlous days meant but one thing to the people of South America: a visit to an unsentimental land whose traditions, if any were cherished at all, went back no farther than yesterday and were to be succeeded by fresh ones tomorrow.
  George Barr McCutcheon (1866 - 1928) An American novelist and playwright. West Wind Drift

Origin of the Word

Parlous, approximately 1300, derives from Old French perillous, French périlleux "dangerous, hazardous," from Latin periculosus, from periculum "dangerous."