precipitous

adj

1. Steep, like a precipice

   “a precipitous cliff”

   “a precipitous mountain”

   “a precipitous decline”

   “a precipitous drop”

   “About this time our journey began to be pleasant again. The weather warm, yet not disagreeably so, the grass abundant and of an excellent quality, the road not greatly precipitous, the scenery enchanting.”

2. Headlong

   “a precipitous fall”

3. Hasty; rash; quick; sudden

   “precipitous attempts”

   “[…]humans have been responsible for a precipitous decline of elephants, from perhaps 300,000 in the early 1970s to some 10,000 today.”