Precipitous \Pre*cip"i*tous\, a. [L. praeceps, -cipitis: cf. OF.
precipiteux. See Precipice.]
1. Steep, like a precipice; as, a precipitous cliff or
mountain.
[1913 Webster]
2. Headlong; as, precipitous fall.
[1913 Webster]
3. Hasty; rash; quick; sudden; precipitate; as, precipitous
attempts. --Sir T. Browne. "Marian's low, precipitous
`Hush!'" --Mrs. Browning.
[1913 Webster] --
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
precipitous
adj 1: done with very great haste and without due deliberation;
"hasty marriage seldom proveth well"- Shakespeare;
"hasty makeshifts take the place of planning"- Arthur
Geddes; "rejected what was regarded as an overhasty
plan for reconversion"; "wondered whether they had
been rather precipitate in deposing the king" [syn: hasty,
overhasty, precipitate, precipitant]
2: characterized by precipices; "a precipitous bluff"
3: extremely steep; "an abrupt canyon"; "the precipitous rapids
of the upper river"; "the precipitous hills of Chinese
paintings"; "a sharp drop" [syn: abrupt, sharp]
WordNet (r) 2.0
66 Moby Thesaurus words for "precipitous":
abrupt, accident-prone, acclivitous, arduous, bluff, bold,
breakneck, breathless, careless, declivitous, desperate,
devil-may-care, electrifying, furious, harum-scarum, hasty,
headlong, hotheaded, hurried, impetuous, impulsive, mad,
nerve-shattering, orthodiagonal, orthogonal, overeager,
overenthusiastic, overzealous, panting, perpendicular, plumb,
plunging, precipitant, precipitate, quick, rapid, rash, reckless,
right-angle, right-angled, right-angular, rushing, sharp, sheer,
shocking, sideling, slap-bang, slapdash, speedy, startling, steep,
stickle, straight-up, straight-up-and-down, sudden, surprising,
swift, unanticipated, unexpected, unforeseen, unlooked-for,
unpredicted, up-and-down, vertical, wanton, wild
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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