steep
/stiːp/
"steep" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“steep” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #7,292 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #7,292
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of a near-vertical gradient; of a slope, surface, curve, etc. that proceeds upward at an angle near vertical.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | steep |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /stiːp/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #7,292 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “steep” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for steep is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /stiːp/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,292 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for steep, with forms such as "setep", "ssteep", and "steepp". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "STP", "stop", "stem", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English steep, from Old English stēap (“high”), from Proto-Germanic *staupaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewb- (“to push, stick”). Compare Old Frisian stāp ("high, towering"; > Modern Saterland Frisian stiep (“steep”)), Dutch stoop (“grand; pr… The correct English form is steep, spelled S-T-E-E-P.
Definition
- 1Of a near-vertical gradient; of a slope, surface, curve, etc. that proceeds upward at an angle near vertical.
- 2Expensive.
- 3Difficult to access; not easy reached; lofty; elevated; high.
- 4resulting in a mast or windshield angle that strongly diverges from the perpendicular.
Etymology
From Middle English steep, from Old English stēap (“high”), from Proto-Germanic *staupaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewb- (“to push, stick”). Compare Old Frisian stāp ("high, towering"; > Modern Saterland Frisian stiep (“steep”)), Dutch stoop (“grand; proud”), Middle High German stouf (“towering cliff, precipice”), Middle High German stief (“steep”)). The Proto-Indo-European root (and related) has many and varied descendants, including English stub; compare also Scots stap (“to strike, to forcibly insert”). The sense of “sharp slope” is attested circa 1200; the sense “expensive” is attested US 1856.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: setep,ssteep,steepp,step,stepe,stteep,tseep
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of steep - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “steep”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-T-E-E-P - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /stiːp/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “STP” - see the side-by-side comparison. steep vs STP
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.