Precipitous

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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] -- {Pre*cip"i*tous*ly}, adv. --
        {Pre*cip"i*tous*ness}, n.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  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}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  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