precipitous

English

Etymology

From obsolete French précipiteux, from Vulgar Latin *praecipitosus. Equivalent to precipice (“steep”) +‎ -ous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈsɪpɪtəs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

precipitous

1. Steep, like a precipice

   a precipitous cliff

   a precipitous mountain

   a precipitous decline

   a precipitous drop

2. Headlong

   a precipitous fall

3. Hasty; rash; quick; sudden

   precipitous attempts

   • 2007 March, J. Michael Fay, “Ivory Wars: Last Stand in Zakouma”, in National Geographic, page 46:

     […] humans have been responsible for a precipitous decline of elephants, from perhaps 300,000 in the early 1970s to some 10,000 today.

Synonyms

• (steep): brant, steep-to
• (headlong): headlong, precipitant, precipitous
• (hasty, rash): heedless, hotheaded, impetuous; see also Thesaurus:reckless
• (sudden): abrupt, precipitous, subitaneous; see also Thesaurus:sudden

Translations

steep, like a precipice

• Bulgarian: много стръмен (mnogo strǎmen), отвесен (bg) (otvesen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 陡峭 (zh) (dǒuqiào), 斷崖式／断崖式 (duànyáshì) (figurative)

• Finnish: jyrkkä (fi)
• French: abrupt (fr), escarpé (fr), raide (fr)
• German: abrupt (de), abschüssig (de), jäh (de), schroff (de), steil (de), steilwandig
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀπότομος (apótomos)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: meredek (hu)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: praeceps
• Old English: stealc
• Maori: tūparipari, tāhekeheke, taparere
• Spanish: escarpado (es)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can

headlong

• Bulgarian: стремителен (bg) (stremitelen)
• Finnish: äkkijyrkkä (fi)
• German: kopfüber (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: de cabeza

hasty; rash; quick; sudden; precipitate

• Bulgarian: прибързан (bg) (pribǎrzan)
• Finnish: äkillinen (fi)
• French: précipité (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: überstürzt (de)
• Spanish: precipitado (es)

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “precipitous”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)