steep

[steep]

adjective, steep·er, steep·est.

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

a steep place; declivity, as of a hill.

Origin of steep

before 900; Middle English stepe (adj.), Old English stēap; akin to stoop¹

Related formssteep·ly, adverbsteep·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for steeply

Contemporary Examples of steeply

That would be at least another couple percent of GNP, collected ideally through a steeply graduated consumption tax.
America's Investment Crisis
Jeffrey Sachs
October 7, 2010

Historical Examples of steeply

Then he plunged down the steeply inclined trough after Fuller.
Vulcan's Workshop
Harl Vincent
It lay on a broken, steeply ascending ramp of a mountainside.
The White Invaders
Raymond King Cummings
The surface is steeply inclined, but it is perfectly unbroken.
Fragments of science, V. 1-2
John Tyndall
Daylight disclosed a steeply sloping beach, scarred with ravines.
World's War Events, Vol. I
Various
It flowed through a grassy hollow, with steeply sloping sides.
Robert Falconer
George MacDonald

British Dictionary definitions for steeply

steep

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 ambitiousa steep task

British informal (of a statement) extreme or far-fetched

obsolete elevated

Derived Formssteeply, adverbsteepness, noun

Word Origin for steep

Old English steap; related to Old Frisian stāp, Old High German stouf cliff, Old Norse staup

steep

verb

to soak or be soaked in a liquid in order to soften, cleanse, extract an element, etc

(tr; usually passive) to saturate; imbuesteeped 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

Derived Formssteeper, noun

Word Origin for steep

Old English stēpan; related to steap vessel, cup, Old High German stouf, Old Norse staup, Middle Dutch stōp

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for steeply

steep

adj.

"having a sharp slope," Old English steap "high, lofty," from Proto-Germanic *staupaz (cf. Old Frisian stap, Middle High German *stouf), from PIE *steup- "to push, stick, knock, beat," with derivations referring to projecting objects (cf. Greek typtein "to strike," typos "a blow, mold, die;" Sanskrit tup- "harm," tundate "pushes, stabs;" Gothic stautan "push;" Old Norse stuttr "short"). The sense of "precipitous" is from c.1200. The slang sense "at a high price" is a U.S. coinage first attested 1856. Related: Steeply; steepness.

steep

"to soak in a liquid," late 14c., of uncertain origin, originally in reference to barley or malt, probably cognate with Old Norse steypa "to pour out, throw" (or an unrecorded Old English cognate), from Proto-Germanic *staupijanan. Related: Steeped; steeping.