parlousnessn.
/ˈpɑːləsnəs/, U.S. /ˈpɑrləsnəs/ Now rare.
The state or quality of being parlous; esp. precariousness, dangerousness, direness.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > [noun] > quality
dangerousness1530
periculousness1547
parlousness1565
perilousness1571
insafety1641
precariousness1798
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [noun] > quality or fact of being extreme
extremeness1530
parlousness1727
extremity1849
the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > [noun]
hastinessc1325
melancholya1375
hastivenessa1393
hastivessa1393
rese?a1400
hastivitya1500
fumishness1519
choler1530
firishness1568
cholericness1571
waspishness1593
fieriness1625
irascibility1750
parlousness1755
temper1828
provocability1834
quickness1863
tempersomeness1909
1565 A. Golding tr. Caesar Martiall Exploytes in Gallia viii. f. 265 Our souldiers..were hindred both with the perlousenes of thencounter, & wyth the disaduauntage of ye place.
1727 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II Parlousness, uncapableness of being equalled, spoken commonly in an ill Sense.
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Parlousness, quickness; keenness of temper.
1987 Financial Times (Nexis) 12 Mar. i. 28 Given the parlousness of the economic situation, the future of the Anglo-Irish Agreement is likely to take second place in the new government's immediate activities.
2000 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 9 Sept. (Spectrum section) 10 Physical parlousness still informs the everyday conditions of Australia's remote Aboriginal populations.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1565