steepyadj.
/ˈstiːpi/ Obsolete exc. archaic. in combination.1638 R. Brathwait Barnabees Journall (new ed.) i. sig. E2 Thence to Kighley, where are mountaines Steepy-threatning.1672 J. Dryden Conquest Granada ii. iv. iii. 130 I..found th' eternal fence so steepy high.
a. Steep; full of steep places; precipitous.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > slope > [adjective] > steep
stickleOE
steepc1175
shore14..
steyc1480
proclive1524
steeping1530
brant1545
steepy1565
abrupt1591
dreich1597
downsteepy1603
acclive1616
arduous1711
sharp1725
acclivous1730
rapid1785
declivitous1799
acclivitous1803
scarped1823
proclivitous1860
stoss1878
resequent1906
the world > space > relative position > inclination > [adjective] > inclined from level or sloping > steep (except of hills, etc.)
staira1175
slidingc1325
steepa1400–50
side?a1475
right-up1511
steep-down1530
steepwise1542
headlonga1557
steep-up?a1560
pitch hill1560
pendent1587
high-pitched1596
steeped1596
perpendicular1598
steepy1735
declivitous1799
steepish1814
escarped1853
steep-cut1888
swooping1956
1565 T. Stapleton tr. Bede Hist. Church Eng. iv. xxvii. f. 147 Stipye and craggie hylles.
a1593 C. Marlowe Tragicall Hist. Faustus (1616) sig. F2 This Traytor flies vnto some steepie rocke.
1632 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Eromena 52 A steepie and rockie dale.
1735 W. Somervile Chace iii. 98 So Ships in Winter-Seas now sliding sink Adown the steepy Wave.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth I. 56 The banks of great rivers, or steepy sea shores.
1812 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Cantos I & II ii. xxii. 72 Through Calpe's straits survey the steepy shore.
1872 W. D. Howells Their Wedding Journey ix. 256 That huge rock, base and steepy flank and crest.
b. figurative.
ΚΠ
1603 J. Florio tr. M. de Montaigne Ess. i. xix. 36 The leape from an ill beeing, vnto a not beeing, is not so dangerous or steepie; as it is from a delightfull and flowrishing beeing, vnto a painefull and sorrowfull condition.
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets lxiii. sig. E2 When his youthfull morne Hath trauaild on to Ages steepie night. View more context for this quotation
?1614 W. Drummond Sonnet: Ah burning Thoughts in Poems What though I trace not right Heauens steppie Wayes?
a1631 J. Donne Βιαθανατος (1647) Concl. Because the limits are obscure, and steepy, and slippery, and narrow.
c. of movement.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > [adjective] > rising steeply
steep1603
steepy1681
1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 27 Now take thy steepy flight from heaven, and see If thou canst find on earth another He.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 287 The Night..view'd with equal Face, Her steepy rise, and her declining Race.
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica i. i. 1 Large currents..flow from different parts of the main ridge, and continue their winding steepy courses to the sea.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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adj.1565