"Parlous" is a contracted form of "perilous" that emerged in Middle English and gained popularity in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Beyond its primary meaning of dangerous or hazardous, it developed secondary senses of extreme, shrewd, or remarkable, often used ironically or humorously. Shakespeare employed "parlous" to convey both genuine danger and exaggerated alarm, exploiting its compressed sound for comic or dramatic effect. The term appears in poetry and drama where archaic diction creates atmosphere or where monosyllabic intensity serves metrical needs. Its dual nature—both serious and potentially ironic—made it versatile for poets navigating between high tragedy and satirical commentary. The word's condensed form gives it forceful impact while maintaining the elevated register of its root word.

Parlous demonstrates phonetic reduction of "perilous" while developing distinct semantic overtones. The term can mean dangerous but often carries implications of cunning, cleverness, or being shrewdly aware of danger. Shakespeare uses it in both senses. The phonetic compression suggests colloquial origin despite literary usage. Related to "perilous" but semantically distinct. Essential for analyzing semantic drift, phonetic change creating new words, and how danger-vocabulary differs in nuance. The term sometimes appears in somewhat humorous contexts, suggesting danger that's manageable or exaggerated. Useful for discussing how sound change affects meaning, the relationship between "parlous" and "perilous" as doublets, and how archaic terms acquire specialized meanings distinct from their origins.