steeple
Americannoun
-
steeples
plural
-
an ornamental construction, usually ending in a spire, erected on a roof or tower of a church, public building, etc.
-
a tower terminating in such a construction.
-
(loosely) a spire.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
a tall ornamental tower that forms the superstructure of a church, temple, etc
-
such a tower with the spire above it
-
any spire or pointed structure
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of steeple
before 1000; Middle English stepel steeple, tower, Old English stēpel tower. See steep 1, -le
Explanation
A steeple is a very tall tower that gets smaller and smaller as it goes up. Many churches have steeples. Steeples are really tall so people can find the church from anywhere in town. Steeples have been around since the Middle Ages. The word itself comes from Middle English for “high tower.” A steeple on top of a church or temple makes it stand out in a crowd, and it also points right up to heaven. There’s a steeple on almost every church, but if you want to see a really big one, check out the one on the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Vocabulary lists containing steeple
"The Bells" by Edgar Allan Poe
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
My Brother Sam is Dead
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
They Both Die at the End
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
The simple contour of a chapel, its steeple slightly off-center, stands out from the wall about six inches deep.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2025
A motorized unit arriving to plant a flag on a church steeple and take a photo—then bolting immediately.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025
We park with a view of the village church steeple backed by steely limestone peaks of the Pyrenees and lunch at a bar some feet away.
From Salon ● Nov. 8, 2025
The earthquake brought down the church steeple and part of the roof.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2025
The steeple stretched tall up into the sky.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
The cultivated landscape extends into the distance, where tiny steeples and other buildings offer signs of city life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
The chapel, whose unusual design includes three spires, two steeples, a belfry and separate sanctuaries for Catholics and Protestants, has been locked and left to decay since being damaged in the 1971 Sylmar earthquake.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
There's also a pattern that even though these are Christmas cards, forget the snowy steeples and robins, because royal cards rarely seem to have any signs of winter.
From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2024
At around 10 p.m. on March 12, a projectile splintered the complex’s wooden steeples.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 28, 2022
He steeples his fingers again and looks around the office.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
That, at least, felt like home for the hundreds of thousands of Protestant middle Americans who migrated to L.A. and, in the land of Spanish missions, built themselves white clapboard New England-style steepled churches.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 23, 2023
The 1853 town was built in the same Maine style as the company town’s sawmill founders and workers had grown up with — steepled churches, clapboard homes with bright white trim and picket fences.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 25, 2023
Straight-trunked, with steepled boughs, prickly needles, and oblong, scaled cones, white spruce can now be found from Newfoundland all the way to the Alaskan Arctic.
From Salon ● Feb. 14, 2021
The float features a hand-painted wooden replica of the steepled church.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 10, 2020
It has lots of woods but also castles and farms and steepled villages and winding river valleys—the whole, as it were, European package.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Like the rest of the world, the Philippines is having to pay a lot more for energy imports, but it is the steepling prices of staple foodstuffs that has become most hard to stomach.
From Reuters ● Feb. 15, 2023
Guardiola sat on an icebox in the technical area, his fingers steepling against his forehead, in horrified awe, as if trying to impose some reason on it all.
From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2022
De Beer’s trusty right boot also set up one of South Africa’s two tries as a steepling up-and-under bounced kindly into the grasp of winger Pieter Roussow, who flopped over the line.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 1, 2019
I played along, even steepling my fingers to show my sincere concern just as I had seen actual managers do.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2014
Jenny’s chair let out a plaintive squeak as she leaned back, steepling her fingers in front of her, serious now.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
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.
