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PlainSpell

steer

UK /stɪə/verb, noun

steer is spelled S-T-E-E-R: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, steer means “To guide the course of a vessel, vehicle, aircraft etc. (by means of a device such as a rudder, paddle, or steering wheel)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in steer?

Letters5: S-T-E-E-R
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing5.2 times per million words; the 10,843rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is steer?

Steer appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce steer?

  • UK /stɪə/
  • British /stɪː/
  • British /stɪjə/

Steer has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-steer.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with steer?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as steer from its last stressed vowel (/ɪə/, British pronunciation):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: reset, ester, terse, teres, stere, estre.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of steer

  • steers present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • steering participle, present
  • steered participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does steer mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To guide the course of a vessel, vehicle, aircraft etc. (by means of a device such as a rudder, paddle, or steering wheel).

    The boat steered towards the iceberg.

  2. 2

    To guide the course of a vessel, vehicle, aircraft etc. (by means of a device such as a rudder, paddle, or steering wheel).

    I find it very difficult to steer a skateboard.

  3. 3

    To be directed and governed; to take a direction, or course; to obey the helm.

    The boat steers easily.

  4. 4

    To direct a group of animals.

  5. 5

    To maneuver or manipulate a person or group into a place or course of action.

    Hume believes that principles of association steer the imagination of artists.

  6. 6

    To conduct oneself; to take or pursue a course of action.

  7. 7

    To direct a conversation.

  8. 8

    To direct or send an object into a specific place

  9. 9

    To castrate (a male calf).

noun

  1. 1

    informalA suggestion about a course of action.

  2. 2

    obsoleteA helmsman; a pilot.

  3. 3

    The castrated male of cattle, especially one raised for beef production.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Steer in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchconduire, guider, diriger, piloter, barrer (intransitive: guide the course), bœuf (castrated male of cattle)
Germansteuern (intransitive: guide the course), Ochse, Mastochse (castrated male of cattle)
Portuguesedirecionar, guiar (intransitive: guide the course), boi (castrated male of cattle), conduzir (direct a group of animals), levar a (maneuver or manipulate a person or group into a…), capar (castrate a male calf)
Spanishdirigir, conducir (intransitive: guide the course), buey (castrated male of cattle), llevar (direct a group of animals), guiar (transitive: guide the course of)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does steer come from?

Inherited from Middle English steeren, steren, stiren, sturen, steoren, from Old English stēoran, stīeran, stȳran (“to steer; guide a vessel”), from Proto-West Germanic *stiurijan (“to steer”), from Proto-Germanic *stiurijaną (“to steer”). The noun is from Middle English steere, stere (“rudder”), steor, from Old English stēor, stȳr (“steering; guidance; direction”). Compare Dutch stuur, German Steuer, Icelandic stýri.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after steer