precarity

Noun

precarity (countable and uncountable, plural precarities)

1. (uncountable) Synonym of precariousness (“the state of being uncertain or unstable”); (countable) an instance of this.
   • And he recognized then that the crux of his wretchedness had been the fear lest he might not acquit himself of his long indebtedness to Monsieur through yielding him satisfaction in some perfected fruit of his art; of which, in proportion as Monsieur was certain, Gaspard was rendered more miserable...1910 March, Marian Cox, chapter XIII, in The Crowds and the Veiled Woman, New York, N.Y.; London: Funk & Wagnalls Company, →OCLC, page 263
   • [I]t would have been simpler to maintain the high level of yields by periodical relocations of village field systems and by bringing fresh ground under the plough than to cultivate permanent agricultural bases, labour-intensive, difficult to maintain and risky because of the various precarities of...1993, Petr Charvát, Ancient Mesopotamia: Humankind’s Long Journey into Civilization (Dissertationes Orientales; 47), Prague, Czech Republic: Oriental Institute, →ISBN, page 154

   Synonyms:

   precariousness

2. (specifically, uncountable) The condition of existence without predictability or security, thus affecting material or psychological welfare; (countable) an instance of this.
   • "Precarity," or precariousness, is an essential element in true voluntary poverty, a saintly French Canadian priest from Martinique has written us. […] Precarity enables us better to help the poor. When a community is always building and enlarging and embellishing, which is good in itself, there is...1963, Dorothy Day, “A Baby is Always Born with a Loaf of Bread under Its Arm”, in Loaves and Fishes, New York, N.Y.; Evanston, Ill.: Harper & Row, →OCLC, part II (Poverty and Precarity), pages 82–83
   • The individual precarity of persons thus provides a psychology for, a sense of plausibility for, a doctrine of collective precarity, thereby justifying a pseudo-unity under the nation state.1985, Anthony J. Blasi, “Third World Workers and the Religious Anti-structure of Latin American Development”, in A Phenomenological Transformation of the Social Scientific Study of Religion (American...

   Synonyms:

   insecurity