steep 1 of 3

steep

2 of 3

verb

steep

3 of 3

noun

Synonym Chooser

How is the word steep different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of steep are abrupt, precipitous, and sheer. While all these words mean "having an incline approaching the perpendicular," steep implies such sharpness of pitch that ascent or descent is very difficult.

a steep hill
a steep dive

When would abrupt be a good substitute for steep?

In some situations, the words abrupt and steep are roughly equivalent. However, abrupt implies a sharper pitch and a sudden break in the level.

a beach with an abrupt drop-off

When might precipitous be a better fit than steep?

While in some cases nearly identical to steep, precipitous applies to an incline approaching the vertical.

the river winds through a precipitous gorge

When is it sensible to use sheer instead of steep?

Although the words sheer and steep have much in common, sheer suggests an unbroken perpendicular expanse.

sheer cliffs that daunted the climbers

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of steep
Adjective
Tesla trades at 150 times profit estimates, a steep premium to other Big Tech stocks such as Nvidia. Chris Kirkham, USA Today, 7 June 2025 The district is most likely to recommend school closures in the northwest, southwest, and central parts of the city, because those regions will experience the steepest enrollment declines, says the annual report, known as the Strategic Regional Analysis. Melanie Asmar, Denver Post, 6 June 2025
Verb
The longer the steeping time, the more contaminants were adsorbed. Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 27 Feb. 2025 Available for a limited time, Bojangles’ new Watermelon Sweet Tea blends the chain’s legendary iced tea—steeped the old-fashioned way, of course—with real watermelon juice to create a refreshing drink perfect for cooling down on hot summer days. Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 16 May 2025
Noun
Mountain bikers love Nelson for its distinct type of trails, nostalgically referred to as classic BC-style (Read: highly technical singletrack with long vertical descents full of airs, bridges, steeps, roots, and rock slabs). Jayme Moye, Outside Online, 4 Oct. 2024 What to drink: The plum blossom herbal tea ($8) is served on a beautiful wood tray and comes with multiple steeps. Megan Stringer, Axios, 8 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for steep
Recent Examples of Synonyms for steep
Adjective
  • Limpopo, a mountainous province that’s divided from Zimbabwe and Botswana by the Limpopo River, is one of the more underserved parts of South Africa.
    Mary Holland, Robb Report, 5 June 2025
  • When Neo awakens, we are lost amid mountainous, industrial pods.
    Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2025
Adjective
  • As a Millennial what’s your take on Gen Z’s excessive use of exclamation points?
    Frank DiGiacomo, Billboard, 9 June 2025
  • These messages often include cluttered formatting, excessive explanations and an increasing number of typos or design errors.
    Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 8 June 2025
Verb
  • His work is suffused with such affection for the edge places where Europe bleeds into its others—Venice, Trieste, Alexandria, Algiers—that the continent becomes all edge.
    Nicholas Dames, Harpers Magazine, 29 Apr. 2025
  • Kaunas: Where the Grand Duchy Endures As the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania — one of Europe’s largest and most powerful nations during the Late Middle Ages and early Renaissance — Kaunas is suffused with history.
    Joe Yogerst, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Cooking time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, plus overnight bean soak.
    Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2025
  • For stubborn stains, soak the linen in cool or lukewarm water with a small amount of oxygen bleach for up to a few hours.
    Christina Pérez, Vogue, 31 May 2025
Noun
  • Photo by Barbara Smits/Shutterstock Miner’s Beach Shingleton, Michigan Sandstone cliffs stained red, blue, and brown by minerals line Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
    Elaine Glusac, AFAR Media, 6 June 2025
  • Markets rose in early trading Friday, with S&P 500 futures up 0.8% and bond yields nudging higher, reflecting investor confidence that the economy is cooling gradually — not falling off a cliff.
    Shannon Carroll, Quartz, 6 June 2025
Adjective
  • Trump also signed orders aimed at clearing the way for a new generation of supersonic jets in the United States, and to encourage the development of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft or eVTOLs, sometimes described as air taxis.
    Deepa Shivaram, NPR, 6 June 2025
  • The goal is to stay out of the NFC East's cellar, avoid catastrophe, and, hopefully, keep Russell Wilson and crew vertical.
    Geoffrey Knox, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 June 2025
Adjective
  • As shocking and extreme as this season was, all paths led here.
    Jennifer Adams, StyleCaster, 5 June 2025
  • The suit cites the extreme conditions within the CECOT megaprison, known by its acronym in Spanish, where prisoners sleep in crowded cells with bunks three levels high and are not allowed to go outside or have visitors of any kind.
    Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, 5 June 2025
Verb
  • At a time when the demagogue Father Coughlin was flooding the radio with antisemitic hate speech, Berg offered counterprogramming.
    Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 9 June 2025
  • By Sunday, the National Guard had arrived in the city, and images of heavily armed officers confronting peaceful demonstrators, including journalists and musicians, began flooding social media.
    Jessica Lynch, Billboard, 9 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Steep.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/steep. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025.

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