His position grew precarious by the day, hanging by a thread.
Tips
history
臲 is bound to the compound 臲卼 — 'tottering / on the brink of collapse / precarious'. The phrase is attested in the 《易经·困卦》 and gives the sense of a structure or political situation wobbling and about to fall. It survives in archaic prose and editorials reaching for gravitas.
register
Archaic — definitions follow classical attestation only. Modern Chinese uses 摇摇欲坠 (about to fall) or 岌岌可危 (extremely dangerous) for the same idea. The character itself shares the niè reading with 臬 (standard / gnomon) — they sit next to each other in radical-browse tables.
Right 危 (danger / precipice) — semantically supplies the 'about to fall' sense. A stake (臬) on a precipice (危) = teetering. Indexed under Kangxi #132 自 (within 臬) by tradition.
Filed under radical 自 (zì, #132) by convention. 自 is not a separate component in 臲, so no strokes are highlighted.
