different between perilous vs unsteady

English

Alternative forms

• perelles (obsolete)
• perillous (archaic)
• perlous (obsolete)
• per'lous (poetic)

Etymology

From Middle English perilous, from Old French perilleus, from the noun peril, or from Latin per?cul?sus. Doublet of periculous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p??.?.l?s/, /p??.l?.?s/

Adjective

perilous (comparative more perilous, superlative most perilous)

1. Dangerous, full of peril.

Derived terms

• perilously

Related terms

Translations

Middle English

Alternative forms

• perillous, perelous, perlious, pereilous, perlous, perylous, perylus, periluse

Etymology

From Old French perilleus, from Latin per?cul?sus; equivalent to peril +? -ous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p?r(i)lu?s/, /?par(i)lu?s/

Adjective

perilous (plural and weak singular perilouse, superlative perilousest)

1. Full of danger or peril; dangerous, harmful, periculous:
   1. Fatal, mortal; potentially resulting in death.
   2. Scary, frightening; inducing horror and psychological damage.
   3. (Late Middle English) Religiously harmful or hurtful
   4. (Late Middle English) Unfortunate; experiencing bad luck.

Descendants

• English: perilous, parlous
• Scots: perilous (obsolete)

References

• “peril?us, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-15.

English

Etymology

From un- +? steady. Like steady, the word first appeared in English around 1530. The word is comparable to Old Frisian onstedich, Low German unstadig, etc.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?st?di/
• Rhymes: -?di
• Hyphenation: un?steady

Adjective

unsteady (comparative unsteadier, superlative unsteadiest)

1. Not held firmly in position, physically unstable.

   • "Mid-Lent, and the Enemy grins," remarked Selwyn as he started for church with Nina and the children. Austin, knee-deep in a dozen Sunday supplements, refused to stir; poor little Eileen was now convalescent from grippe, but still unsteady on her legs; her maid had taken the grippe, and now moaned all day: […]"

2. Lacking regularity or uniformity.
3. Inconstant in purpose, or volatile in behavior.

Synonyms

• (not held or fixed securely and likely to fall over): precarious, rickety, shaky; see also Thesaurus:rickety
• (lacking regularity or uniformity): chaotic, irregular, unstable; see also Thesaurus:unsteady

Antonyms

• steady

Derived terms

• unsteadily

Translations

Verb

unsteady (third-person singular simple present unsteadies, present participle unsteadying, simple past and past participle unsteadied)

1. To render unsteady, removing balance.

Anagrams

• Dauntsey, unstayed