precarious
prih-KAIR-ee-usadjMeaning unsteady and likely to fall or fail
Memory hook take CARE! pre-CARE-ious. Dev carries a wobbling tower of twelve plates across the kitchen. Take care! It could crash at any moment: the stack is precarious.
The cat sat in a precarious spot on the very edge of the shelf.
In context After the storm washed away half the trail, the hikers’ path along the cliff became precarious, with loose rocks sliding at every step.
Similar unstable, shaky, risky, perilous
Opposite stable, secure, safe
From Latin precarius, “got by begging, uncertain,” from precari (to pray, beg): what you hold only by someone’s favor can be taken away at any moment.