steerage

noun

steer·​age ˈstir-ij 

1

: the act or practice of steering

broadly : direction

2

[from its originally being located near the rudder] : a section of inferior accommodations in a passenger ship for passengers paying the lowest fares

Examples of steerage in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This season, under the steerage of rising star head coach Jon Sumrall and transfer quarterback Jake Retzlaff, Tulane soared to an 11-2 record, with wins over big-conference teams like Northwestern and Duke. —Becky Sullivan, NPR, 19 Dec. 2025

Newsom finds himself in political steerage with Kamala Harris’ ascendancy to the Democratic Party’s throne. —Tom Philp, The Mercury News, 4 Sep. 2024

The panel was particularly impressed with Gilford’s humane storytelling, graceful steerage, engagingly down-to-earth tone, and life-embracing characters. —Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 2 July 2024

There were five dozen other passengers, all but two in steerage, and the crossing, in miserable weather, took almost two months. —David Owen, The New Yorker, 2 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for steerage

• peerage
• arrearage

Kids Definition

steerage

noun

steer·​age ˈsti(ə)r-ij 

1

: the act or practice of steering

also : direction sense 1

2

: a section in a passenger ship for passengers paying the lowest fares