JLPT N2 · い-adjective

危うい (ayaui)

危うい (あやうい, ayaui) is a Japanese い-adjective meaning “dangerous; in danger”. It appears in JLPT N2 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.

Reading
あやうい
Romaji
ayaui
Word class
い-adjective
Level
JLPT N2 (unofficial)

Meaning

  1. dangerous; in danger; facing imminent danger · い-adjective · usu. as 危ういところ
  2. precarious (situation); perilous (state, balance, etc.); in doubt; in jeopardy; uncertain · い-adjective

Example sentences

危うい所を助かった。
I had a narrow escape.
危ういところで少女は湖でおぼれそうになった。
It was a close call when the little girl almost drowned in the lake.
彼は今入院中で、生きられるかどうかは危うい状態だ。
He is now in the hospital and his life is in the balance.

Sentences from the Tatoeba project, linked to this word in JMdict.

Conjugation of 危うい

い-adjective. Plain and polite forms below; try any other word in the Japanese verb conjugator.

FormJapaneseReading
Present危ういあやうい ayaui
Negative危うくないあやうくない ayaukunai
Past危うかったあやうかった ayaukatta
Negative past危うくなかったあやうくなかった ayaukunakatta
Te-form危うくてあやうくて ayaukute
Adverb (~ku)危うくあやうく ayauku
Conditional (~ba)危うければあやうければ ayaukereba

Kanji in 危うい

Related words

Other vocabulary sharing a kanji with 危うい.

Source: JMdict entry 1218360 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.