How to Use perilous in a Sentence

perilous

adjective
  • But care there can be perilous and pricey.
    — Jordan Rau, NPR, 29 Nov. 2025
  • Is the trek as perilous as some have led us to believe?
    — Sean Gregory, Time, 11 June 2026
  • What happens next could land them in even more perilous spots.
    — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
  • But the path to deep space is perilous, and past mistakes loom large.
    — Nora Mishanec, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 Mar. 2021
  • At times, the journey was perilous.
    — Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 11 Feb. 2026
  • If the story itself was perilous, so was the shoot.
    — Andy Hazel, IndieWire, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Still, the idea that Democrats have plenty of time is a perilous one.
    — Stephen Collinson, CNN, 4 Oct. 2021
  • Nick made this perilous deal even though, to his mind, June chose Luke.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 8 Apr. 2025
  • That on its own is a perilous position.
    — Jim Edwards, Fortune, 2 Jan. 2026
  • The rap scene, then steeped in gangster culture, was perilous.
    — Janine Rubenstein, People.com, 3 July 2025
  • More perilous still, Earth is watching.
    — Stephanie Burt, New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Nia just stares at her, as perilous and unblinking as the sun, and doesn’t say a word.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 9 Apr. 2026
  • In a city dotted with rubble and flames, the journey home is perilous.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 1 Nov. 2024
  • The road to the majors is a perilous one, so don’t get overexcited.
    — Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2026
  • Just like Arizona, the path to stay perfect is perilous.
    — Dave Skretta, Baltimore Sun, 26 Jan. 2026
  • Should people just live someplace less perilous?
    — Susan Page, USA Today, 29 Aug. 2025
  • Houston’s predicament now feels far more perilous.
    — Chandler Rome, New York Times, 25 May 2026
  • But such tools can also be perilous, said Moylan.
    — Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 1 Apr. 2026
  • These still-fetal structures leave the joey in a pretty perilous state.
    — Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 11 Jan. 2023
  • Fearing arrest, some have risked perilous boat journeys to flee the city.
    — Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2021
  • The Guardians best not get buried this weekend to kick off a perilous final two months.
    — Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 5 Aug. 2022
  • Even to reach them, aid workers walked for hours on perilous roads on steep mountainsides.
    — NPR, 14 Oct. 2025
  • The perilous slide, triggered after fierce winter rains, is steep and lacks a trail.
    — Lisa M. Krieger, The Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2024
  • The picture wasn’t always so perilous.
    — Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 21 Jan. 2026
  • The additional cash comes at a perilous time for the global fight against the virus.
    — Pranav Baskar, BostonGlobe.com, 12 May 2022
  • Airstrikes flatten blocks of a Gaza refugee camp, bringing rage, grief and a perilous new phase of war.
    — Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2023
  • The megadrought also primed the landscape for perilous wildfires.
    — Rachel Ramirez, Brandon Miller and Bill Weir, CNN, 22 Dec. 2021
  • While some take flight to perilous new heights, others dig in their stilettos and stand their ground no matter the cost.
    — Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 8 Apr. 2022
  • Leonard is the calm at the center of the storm, which grows increasingly perilous.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 14 Mar. 2022
  • Not an easy task at a moment of perilous global politics.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 6 Feb. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'perilous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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