Precipitous

//pɹɪˈsɪpɪtəs// adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Steep, like a precipice

    "a precipitous cliff"

  2. 2
    Headlong

    "a precipitous fall"

  3. 3
    Hasty; rash; quick; sudden

    "precipitous attempts"

Adjective
  1. 1
    dangerously steep wordnet
  2. 2
    done with very great haste and without due deliberation wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
steepabruptabruptabruptaccident proneaccident-prone

Example

More examples

"Your actions may be overly precipitous."

Etymology

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

More for "precipitous"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.