pre ‧ cip ‧ i ‧ tous /prəˈsɪpətəs, prɪˈsɪpətəs/ BrE AmE adjective
1 . very sudden:
a precipitous decline in stock prices
2 . dangerously high or steep:
a precipitous path
3 . formal happening or done too quickly, and not thought about carefully:
a precipitous marriage
—precipitously adverb