What does steep mean?
Word: Steep
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Steep means rising or falling sharply, so that it is hard to climb up or go down.
Synonyms: sharp
Antonyms: gentle
How do you spell steep?
Syllables: steep
Tricky part: The long e sound is spelt with a double e. Children sometimes write steap or stip.
Watch out for: steap, stip, steepe
Memory tip: A jeep struggles up a steep road: both words have ee and end in p.
Steep in a sentence
Example 1: The road to the hill fort was so steep that we had to stop and rest.
Example 2: Hold the railing; these stairs are steep.
Example 3: Our cycles raced down the steep slope.
Fun Fact
Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand, is often called the steepest street in the world where people live.
Practise the CREST Way
Sound Check
Choose the word that rhymes with the last word of the given sentence:
The stone steps up to the old lighthouse are very steep.
a) shape
b) step
c) chip
d) cheap
Show answer
d) cheap. Cheap is spelt with ea, yet it ends in the same long ee and p sound as steep.
Word Champ
Choose the correct word for the blank:
The path up the hill is too ______ for Grandma to climb.
a) step
b) steam
c) stoop
d) steep
Show answer
d) steep. A path that rises sharply is steep.
Jumble Tumble
What is the meaning of the word that can be formed from the given letters?
petse
a) soft and full of sand
b) rising sharply and hard to climb
c) flat and spread out wide
d) cold, wet and slippery
Show answer
b) rising sharply and hard to climb. These five letters make steep, the word for a slope that shoots upwards.
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) steep
b) slope
c) valley
d) montain
Show answer
d) montain. Mountain has ou after the m: m-o-u-n-t-a-i-n.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these is the steepest?
a) a school corridor
b) a cliff face
c) a dining table
d) a cricket pitch
Show answer
b) a cliff face
2. Papa said the price of the bag was steep. What did he mean?
a) it cost a lot
b) it was half price
c) it cost nothing
d) it was on sale
Show answer
a) it cost a lot
