Definition of "parlous" in English

adjective

1. Attended with peril; dangerous, risky.

   • The situation became parlous when the weather made resupply impossible.

2. Appalling, dire, terrible.

   • in a parlous state

3. (rare or obsolete, also England, dialectal) Dangerously clever or cunning; also, remarkably good or unusual.

adverb

1. (archaic) Extremely, very.