perilous, tenuous, dire, unstable, parlous, untenable, fragile, dire straits, dicey, shaky, uncertain, bleak, tense, dangerous, grim, uneasy, difficult, desperate, wobbly, desperate straits, unpromising, delicate, unsettled, vulnerable, problematic, awkward, troubling, worrisome, unpropitious, unenviable, tricky, unpredictable, peculiar, treacherous, chaotic, insecure, unsustainable, pitiable, uncomfortable, turbulent, problematical, daunting, deplorable, disastrous, risky, pessimistic, tight, calamitous, hopeless, enviable, inhospitable, unsteady, gloomy, rocky, paradoxical, instable, fractious, fortuitous, volatile, ominous, impermanent, straitened, murky, propitious, troublesome, disadvantageous, disconcerting, alarming, unpalatable, intolerable, crucial, stressful, rickety, challenging, unfortunate, improbable, precipitous, imbalanced, unnerving, frightening, foundering, unglued, complicated, dismal, nightmarish, jittery, tough, discomforting, unbalanced, rosy, advantageous, overextended, hazardous, bizarre, sticky wicket, iffy, strange, unwise, miserable, touchy, intransigent, undiversified, secure, chancy, changed, securer, assured, demeaning, endurable, turvy, unrewarding, degrading

eke out, precariously, squeeze out

touch-and-go, unsafe