steep

steep adj Steep, abrupt, precipitous, sheer mean having an incline approaching the perpendicular. The words are here arranged in ascending order of degree of perpendicularity.

Steep implies so sharp a slope or pitch that ascent or descent is difficult

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a military road, which rises . . . by an acclivity not dangerously steep, but sufficiently laborious— Johnson

}

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the trail . . . then struck up the side of the mountain, growing steeper every foot of the way— Quillin

}

Abrupt adds to steep the suggestion of a sharper pitch or angle of ascent or descent and usually of a sudden break in a level

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high abrupt banks in places become hanging cliffs with a drop of 100 feet or more— Amer. Guide Series: N. C.

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Precipitous suggests extreme steepness and an abruptness like that of a precipice

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a precipitous height

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a deep gorge, with precipitous, volcanic walls which no man could scale— London

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Sheer implies precipitousness approaching the perpendicular and showing no break in its line

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sheer cliffs that fell from the summit to the plain, more than a thousand feet— Cather

}

Analogous words: elevated, lifted, raised (see LIFT): lofty, *high

steep vb *soak, saturate, impregnate, drench, sop, waterlog

Analogous words: *infuse, imbue, ingrain: penetrate, pierce, probe (see ENTER)