steppe

American  

[step] / stɛp /

noun

steppes plural

1. an extensive plain, especially one without trees.

2. The Steppes,

   1. Also called Great Steppe.  Also called Eurasian Steppe,.  the vast grasslands stretching from Asia to Eastern Europe, bounded on the north by European and Asian Russia and Siberia.

   2. Kirghiz Steppe.

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steppe British  

/ stɛp /

noun

1. (often plural) an extensive grassy plain usually without trees Compare prairie pampas

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steppe Scientific  

/ stĕp /

1. A vast, semiarid grassland, as found in southeast Europe, Siberia, and central North America.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• steppes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of steppe

First recorded in 1665–75; from Russian step' or Ukrainian step; further origin uncertain

Explanation

A steppe is a large geographic area of flat land. A prairie is a kind of steppe. This type of land can be found in both cold and warm environments — from Siberia to Mexico. A steppe, pronounced like the word step, is not quite dry enough to be a desert but not fertile enough for trees to grow. Think of it as a semi-desert covered in grass and shrubs. The word steppe can also be used to describe the climate in areas that are too dry for a forest, but not quite dry enough to be desert.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

steppe steppes

The region, made up of mountains surrounded by a desert steppe, receives just over 100 millimeters of annual rainfall, classifying it as an desert.

From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026

Finally, from 5,000 years ago, the Corded Ware people expanded out of the Russian steppe to inaugurate the European bronze age.

From Science Daily ● May 30, 2026

After watching thousands of antelope flow over the Tibetan steppe, Mr. Schaller wrote, “for a brief time I was free again.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026

Four years ago, almost to the day, I was at the main railway station in Kyiv, watching a scene straight out of Europe's dark past play out in a bitter wind off the Ukrainian steppe.

From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2026

Large areas of the former Fertile Crescent are now desert, semidesert, steppe, or heavily eroded or salinized terrain unsuited for agriculture.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

I was two days into the Gobi March, a brutal 155-mile ultramarathon through the steppes, sand dunes and rock valleys of Central Mongolia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2026

They then spent eight days on the road with a Chinese driver, travelling through mountains and lush steppes, which left Mr Sun in awe.

From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2025

In essence, how did their way of life change over time in a completely new environment after they left the steppes and abandoned their nomadic way of life?

From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024

In 568 C.E., according to contemporary records, warlike horse riders from the Mongolian steppes called the Avars surged into the grassy plains flanking the Danube River, in roughly the territory of modern Hungary.

From Science Magazine ● Apr. 24, 2024

While Stalingrad was burning, they were cooling their heels in the fragrant fields of the Russian steppes, surrounded by sagebrush and birdsong.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

Related Words

• grassland
• prairie
• savanna