steep
1 Americanadjective
-
steeper,
comparative
-
steepest
superlative
-
having an almost vertical slope or pitch, or a relatively high gradient, as a hill, an ascent, stairs, etc.
-
(of a price or amount) unduly high; exorbitant.
Those prices are too steep for me.
-
extreme or incredible, as a statement or story.
-
high or lofty.
noun
verb (used with object)
-
steeps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
steeped,
past participle, past
-
steeping
present participle
-
to soak in water or other liquid in order to soften, cleanse, extract flavor or a particular ingredient, etc..
Pour boiling water over the mint leaves and steep them for 5 minutes.
Tapa cloth is made by steeping the thin bark of the paper mulberry tree in water and then scraping and beating it to the desired texture.
- Synonyms:
- infuse
-
to wet thoroughly in or with a liquid; drench; saturate; imbue.
She isn't the only one whose belongings have been steeped in dirty floodwater—many of her neighbors are experiencing the same.
- Synonyms:
- permeate
-
to immerse in a particular kind of experience or area of learning, fill or saturate with a particular quality, etc., over a long period.
Steep your children in the values of honesty, kindness, dependability, and determination.
verb (used without object)
-
steeps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
steeped,
past participle, past
-
steeping
present participle
noun
-
the act or process of steeping or the state of being steeped (often used attributively).
For brewer’s malt, the steep takes a day or two, followed by germination and kilning.
I was only giving my cold brew about eight hours of steep time instead of the recommended 16 to 18.
-
a liquid in which something is steeped.
Remove the flax from the steep after five to seven days of soaking.
idioms
adjective
-
-
having or being a slope or gradient approaching the perpendicular
-
( as noun )
the steep
-
-
informal (of a fee, price, demand, etc) unduly high; unreasonable (esp in the phrase that's a bit steep )
-
informal excessively demanding or ambitious
a steep task
-
informal (of a statement) extreme or far-fetched
-
obsolete elevated
verb
-
to soak or be soaked in a liquid in order to soften, cleanse, extract an element, etc
-
(tr; usually passive) to saturate; imbue
steeped in ideology
noun
-
an instance or the process of steeping or the condition of being steeped
-
a liquid or solution used for the purpose of steeping something
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
steepsimple
-
steepssimple
-
have steepedperfect
-
has steepedperfect
-
am steepingprogressive
-
are steepingprogressive
-
is steepingprogressive
-
have been steepingperfect progressive
-
has been steepingperfect progressive
Past
-
steepedsimple
-
had steepedperfect
-
was steepingprogressive
-
were steepingprogressive
-
had been steepingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of steep1
First recorded before 900; Middle English adjective step(e), steppe, Old English stēap “lofty, towering”; akin to stoop 1
Origin of steep2
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English verb stepen; further origin obscure; compare Old Icelandic steypa “to throw down, pour out,” Swedish stöpa “to cast”
Explanation
Steep means sharply angled. When hiking trails lead straight up mountainsides, they've got a steep incline. Steep also means "to soak in," as in steeping a tea bag in boiling water. You often hear steep used as an adjective to describe cliffs, hills, or even water park slides that have a perilous slope. Steep can apply to curves on a chart––you might say when someone who has a lot to learn that their learning curve is going to be steep. Steep also comes up to describe exorbitant changes in costs or spending. Everyone would love to travel more, but sometimes plane fare is too steep.
Vocabulary lists containing steep
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Water customers in England and Wales have been hit with steep price hikes in recent years.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Many people flocked to cash investments such as high-yield savings accounts and CDs when the Fed initiated a series of steep interest-rate hikes starting in 2022 to quell inflation.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
Despite steep, rugged terrain making operations difficult, firefighters have reached 83% containment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
Imagine a stopped cable car sitting at the top of a steep hill in San Francisco.
From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026
Their car was up a steep bank, another ten feet above them.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
A consensus of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected a steeper fall of 0.4%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Such costs can be passed down to consumers through steeper prices for food and other staples, pushing up the overall cost of living.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
All three have said since the meeting that they favored raising rates now in order to forestall the possible need for steeper hikes later.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Rocket Lab posted a per-share loss of 8 cents, a steeper loss than the 6 cents analysts had expected.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
This passageway of the Fair Folk was steeper than any of the mountains they had crossed.
From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander
Across the globe, bond yields are setting new highs with 10-year benchmarks at their steepest for thirty years in Japan, fifteen years for Germany and 18 years in the U.K.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
The steepest growth has been in acceptances to what Ucas calls "higher tariff" universities.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
He notes it’s one of the steepest streets in the entire country.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
However, the steepest and most inaccessible terrain acted as a natural barrier, protecting important areas of old-growth forest that logging crews could not easily reach.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
The Tanzanian field staff are wonderful at following the chimps, even through the most difficult places and up the steepest and most treacherous slopes.
From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall
At Lawrence’s urging, George steeps himself in the classics, such as Plutarch and Seneca.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Every day, she steeps herself in the worst imagery the internet has to offer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2026
Gut-Behrami came down immediately after Shiffrin and took a similar cautious approach on the steeps.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 24, 2023
The mixture steeps sometimes for up to 24 hours before being served over ice.
From Salon ● May 14, 2022
“That evil soaks into the soil. Some say it steeps and gets stronger. Maybe this isn’t the place. Maybe Gloria and I should have kept going after Virginia.”
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
Thomasin McKenzie plays a young woman, Alyce, steeped in her own trauma and loss, who attaches herself to the ploughman, and her ability to express wide-eyed, barely contained hysteria and fear is unmatched.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Two of his most acclaimed full-length collections, 2002’s “Sea Change” and 2014’s “Morning Phase,” were downcast acoustic offerings steeped in heartbreak and loss informed by both British folk and California country-rock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Even the fluffy rom-coms are steeped in real life’s anxieties about the social and political, the wars and the wages.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
Hansard's life was steeped in music, from first picking up a guitar as a teenager right until the final hours of his life, when he was performing in a traditional music session.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Barack sometimes referred to me as “Joe Public,” asking me to weigh in on campaign slogans and strategies, knowing that I kept myself happily steeped in popular culture.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Vance “has sought to surface a greater level of detail and nuance about the war,” it says, and “developed a reputation inside the Trump administration for steeping himself in operational detail.”
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
Roberts put his academic background to work, steeping himself in traffic patterns and how search engines and users prioritized different types of content.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
The beverage and humble ingredient is made by lightly toasting 2 3/4 cups of cornflakes and steeping it in 3 3/4 cups of cold milk for 20 minutes.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2025
For one thing, it benefits from steeping in its own juices; cooking it several hours ahead of serving, even a day before, is ideal.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 3, 2023
She knew the flower heads would have to boil till midday and then remain steeping in their water for many hours more.
From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
