Parlous:
very bad, dangerous, or uncertain:
- Relations between the two countries have been in a parlous state for some time.
- I’d like to buy a new car, but my finances are in such a parlous state that I can’t afford to. [Cambridge Dictionary]
Noted in “Donald Trump Has Been Losing Money Every Year Since 2012,” Kevin Drum, Mother Jones:
Trump’s story turns out to be pretty simple. After screwing everybody in sight during the ’90s, he entered 2000 in parlous shape. What saved him was The Apprentice, which earned him a boatload of money and formed the foundation of his flurry of licensing and endorsement deals over the next few years. But as revenue from the show faded, so did Trump’s finances, and since 2012 he’s been losing money every year. Long story short, Trump has lost money at pretty much everything he’s ever done. The only exception is The Apprentice and the licensing money it enabled—which probably owes more to reality show mogul Mark Burnett than to Trump himself.
