parlouslyadv.
/ˈpɑːləsli/, U.S. /ˈpɑrləsli/ In a parlous manner; esp. perilously, dangerously; precariously; desperately.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > [adverb]
perilously1340
wothely?a1400
parlouslyc1425
jeopardouslya1513
dangerously?1544
dangerfully1548
dangerousa1616
badly1673
poisonously1746
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > extremely or exceedingly > excessively
cruellyc1385
overa1400
fullc1400
parlouslyc1425
mortalc1440
perilousc1440
spitefulc1450
devilish1560
pestilently1567
spitefully1567
cruel1573
parlous1575
deadly1589
intolerable?1593
fellc1600
perditlya1632
excessively1634
devilishly1635
desperate1636
woundya1639
woundlya1644
desperately1653
wicked1663
killing1672
woundily1706
wounded1753
mortally1759
dreadful1762
intolerably1768
perishing1776
tremendously1776
terrifically1777
diabolically1792
woundedly1794
thundering1809
all-firedly1833
preponderously1835
painfully1839
deadlilya1843
severely1854
furiously1856
diabolish1858
fiendish1861
demonish1867
sinfully1869
fiendishly1879
thunderingly1885
only too1889
nightmarishly1891
God almighty1906
Christ almighty1945
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. 2540 (MED) It is not a lite To saue ȝour life, þat stant in iupartye More perlously þan ȝe can espie.
c1475 tr. C. de Pisan Livre du Corps de Policie (Cambr.) (1977) 186 (MED) Of the feete Pulcarque..seith that they shulde be soveraynly take hede to..For the hurte of theim may hurte the body right perlously.
1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) i. 45 How moche more parlously ar they traytours to god.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Macc. iv. 16 For the which they stroue perlously.
1664 T. Killigrew Parsons Wedding i. iii, in Comedies & Trag. 80 So she be couzen'd I care not who do's it, for scorning me, who (by this hand) lov'd her parlously.
1711 C. Johnson Generous Husband v. 51 How parlously he talks. Well, he is a sweet Gentleman.
1838 W. Tennant Anster Fair (new ed.) iv. lxxxvii. 21 Trunk, arm, and leg, forgot to shake and bob, That bobb'd and shak'd so parlously before.
1977 Economist (Nexis) 22 Jan. 106 How could any city..designed by one man or one group of men, he asks, be anything other than ‘parlously thin, starved and impoverished’ visually and culturally?
2003 Times (Nexis) 21 July (Features section) 28 The book contains poignant photographs of great buildings, both wonderfully preserved and parlously decaying.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.c1425