- steady
- steady adj Steady, uniform, even, equable, constant are comparable when they mean neither markedly varying nor variable but much the same throughout its course or extent.Steady is the most widely applicable of these terms; in general it suggests regularity and lack of deviation, especially in movement, but it may imply such fixity in position as to be immovable or unshakable{
steady as a rock
}{a steady pole
}or such consistency in character or conduct as to be perfectly reliable{a steady workman
}{maybe she'd marry the first nice and good steady fellow with a steady job who'd be a steady provider— Farrell
}When movement, motion, or direction is implied, the term may connote lack of fluctuation{a steady market
}{steady prices
}{a steady flame
}{you can't make millions on books, but it's a steady respectable business— Buck
}or lack of nervousness{with hinged knees and steady hand to dress wounds— Whitman
}{a steady voice
}or a constant uninterrupted flow or pursuit{a steady stream
}{a steady rain
}{steady work
}Uniform stresses the sameness or alikeness of the elements, parts, units, or instances that comprise a whole (as an aggregate, a series, a combination of instances, a course, or a texture){the cells of the human organism are not uniform in structure and function
}{the progress of civilization is not wholly a uniform drift towards better things— Whitehead
}{one of the most fundamental social interests is that law shall be uniform and impartial— Cardozo
}{the various tackle blocks and planks of the wooden ships were cut to uniform measure— Mumford
}Even stresses steadiness more than uniformity; it often connotes a dead level (as in quality or in character) which is unvaryingly maintained or which is incapable of alteration or disturbance{her monotonous even voice
}{the even flow of his verse
}{I mean to . . . support with an even temper, and without any violent transports of mind, a sudden gust of prosperity— Fielding
}Equable usually implies some inherent quality which makes for invariability, such as uniformity{an equable stride
}{an equable pulse
}or freedom from extremes or sudden marked changes{there is an equable climate in the most populated parts, warm and tempting to leisure— Peffer
}{an equable temper
}or a temperamental calmness{low equable tones, curiously in contrast to the strident babble— Kipling
}{she won and lost, with the same equable sangfroid— Rose Macaulay
}Constant (see also FAITHFUL, CONTINUAL) implies fixity in character, quality, or condition or persistence in kind or type under the same conditions{the sand is frequently yellow . . . but this color is by no means constant— Lyell
}{science has to deal . . . with scores of chemical energies which it knows little about except that they always seem to be constant to the same conditions— Henry Adams
}Analogous words: stable, durable, perdurable, perpetual, *lasting: enduring, persisting, continuing (see CONTINUE): staunch, steadfast, resolute, constant (see FAITHFUL): persevering, persisting (see PERSEVERE)Antonyms: unsteady: nervous, jumpysteady vb *stabilize, poise, balance, ballast, trimContrasted words: *shake, rock, agitate, convulse
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
