precarity

noun

pre·​car·​i·​ty pri-ˈker-ə-tē 

: the state or condition of being precarious : precariousness

The older brother—Dave—raises the younger one, a responsibility that gives him a perpetual sense of life's urgency and precarity.

—Paul Elie

Job precarity can add to a number of social and economic challenges facing millennials including rising personal debts, growing costs of living, shrinking access to pensions and lower retirement savings.

—Arif Jetha

Examples of precarity in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Covid laid bare an inconvenient truth for us all, which is that the essential workers who power our economy and drive value in the business are also living at a level of economic precarity that is, first and foremost, a moral failing of our society, and second of all, just bad for business. —The Sorenson Impact Institute, Forbes, 25 Sep. 2024

Xavier understands the precarity of their situation as Black men in such a world and holds Daniel back from rightfully stomping on this man. —Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2024

Clearly, the business is facing some level of precarity on a systemic level. —Nia Bowers, USA TODAY, 17 Oct. 2024

Together both projects highlight the precarity of authority, as its wielders are easily replaced, and the vulnerability of natural life. —Sarah Belmont, ARTnews.com, 16 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

probably borrowed from French précarité, from précaire "granted or exercised only with the permission of another, insecure, uncertain" (going back to Middle French, borrowed from Latin precārius "given as a favor, uncertain, precarious") + -ité -ity

First Known Use

1910, in the meaning defined above