Steep vs. Flat — What's the Difference?

Having a sharp inclination; precipitous.

Having a level surface; without raised areas or indentations

At a rapid or precipitous rate

Lacking emotion; dull and lifeless

Excessive; stiff

(of a sparkling drink) having lost its effervescence

Ambitious; difficult

(of a fee, wage, or price) the same in all cases, not varying with changed conditions or in particular cases

A precipitous slope.

(of musical sound) below true or normal pitch.

The act or process of steeping.

Relating to flat racing

The state of being steeped.

In or to a horizontal position

A liquid, bath, or solution in which something is steeped.

Completely; absolutely

To immerse in liquid for a period of time, as to cleanse, treat, or extract a given property from

Below the true or normal pitch of musical sound

To involve or preoccupy thoroughly; immerse

The flat part of something

To make thoroughly wet; saturate.

An upright section of stage scenery mounted on a movable frame.

To undergo a soaking in liquid

A flat tyre

Of a near-vertical gradient; of a slope, surface, curve, etc. that proceeds upward at an angle near vertical.

Flat racing.

(informal) expensive

A musical note lowered a semitone below natural pitch.

(obsolete) Difficult to access; not easy reached; lofty; elevated; high.

A set of rooms forming an individual residence, typically on one floor and within a larger building containing a number of such residences.

(of the rake of a ship's mast, or a car's windshield) resulting in a mast or windshield angle that strongly diverges from the perpendicular

Lower (a note) by a semitone

The steep side of a mountain etc.; a slope or acclivity.

Make flat; flatten

A liquid used in a steeping process

Live in or share a flat

A rennet bag.

Having a smooth, even surface

To soak or wet thoroughly.

Having a relatively broad level surface in relation to thickness or depth

To imbue with something; to be deeply immersed in.

Being in horizontal position; lying down

To make tea (or other beverage) by placing leaves in hot water.

Being without slope or curvature

Bright; glittering; fiery.

Having a low heel or no heel

Making a large angle with the plane of the horizon; ascending or descending rapidly with respect to a horizontal line or a level; precipitous; as, a steep hill or mountain; a steep roof; a steep ascent; a steep declivity; a steep barometric gradient.

Free of qualification; absolute

Difficult of access; not easily reached; lofty; elevated; high.

Fixed; unvarying

Excessive; as, a steep price.

Lacking interest or excitement; dull

To soak in a liquid; to macerate; to extract the essence of by soaking; as, to soften seed by steeping it in water. Often used figuratively.

Lacking in flavor

To undergo the process of soaking in a liquid; as, the tea is steeping.

Having lost effervescence or sparkle

Something steeped, or used in steeping; a fertilizing liquid to hasten the germination of seeds.

Deflated. Used of a tire.

A rennet bag.

Electrically discharged. Used of a storage battery.

A precipitous place, hill, mountain, rock, or ascent; any elevated object sloping with a large angle to the plane of the horizon; a precipice.

Of or relating to a horizontal line that displays no ups or downs and signifies the absence of physiological activity

A steep place (as on a hill)

Of or relating to a hierarchy with relatively few tiers or levels

Engross (oneself) fully;

Commercially inactive; sluggish

Let sit in a liquid to extract a flavor or to cleanse;

Unmodulated; monotonous

Having a sharp inclination;

Lacking variety in tint or shading; uniform

Greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation;

Not glossy; matte

Of a slope; set at a high angle;

Being below the correct pitch.

Being one half step lower than the corresponding natural key

Designating the vowel a as pronounced in bad or cat.

(Nautical) Taut. Used of a sail.

(Informal) Having small breasts.

Level with the ground; horizontally.

On or up against a flat surface; at full length.

So as to be flat.

Directly; completely

Exactly; precisely

(Music) Below the intended pitch.

(Business) Without interest charge.

A flat surface or part.

Often flats A stretch of level ground

A shallow frame or box for seeds or seedlings.

A movable section of stage scenery, usually consisting of a wooden frame and a decorated panel of wood or cloth.

A flatcar.

A deflated tire.

A shoe with a flat heel.

A large flat piece of mail.

A horse that competes in a flat race. Also called runner.

A sign (♭) used to indicate that a note is to be lowered by a semitone.

A note that is lowered a semitone.

(Football) The area of the field to either side of an offensive formation.

An apartment on one floor of a building.

(Archaic) A story in a house.

To make flat; flatten.

(Music) To lower (a note) a semitone.

To sing or play below the proper pitch.

Having no variations in height.

In a horizontal line or plane; not sloping.

Smooth; having no protrusions, indentations or other surface irregularities, or relatively so.

(slang) Having small or invisible breasts and/or buttocks.

Without variation in level, quantity, value, tone etc.

At a consistently depressed level; consistently lacklustre.

Of fees, fares etc., fixed; unvarying.

Without variations in pitch.

(of colours) Without variation in tone or hue (uniform), and dull (not glossy).

(figurative) Lacking liveliness or action; depressed; uninteresting; dull and boring.

Lacking in depth, substance, or believability; underdeveloped; one-dimensional.

Lowered by one semitone.

(music) Of a note or voice, lower in pitch than it should be.

Absolute; downright; peremptory.

(of a tire or other inflated object) Deflated, especially because of a puncture.

(of a carbonated drink) With all or most of its carbon dioxide having come out of solution so that the drink no longer fizzes or contains any bubbles.

(wine) Lacking acidity without being sweet.

(of a battery) Unable to emit power; dead.

Without spin; spinless.

Sonant; vocal, as distinguished from a sharp (non-sonant) consonant.

(grammar) Not having an inflectional ending or sign, such as a noun used as an adjective, or an adjective as an adverb, without the addition of a formative suffix; or an infinitive without the sign "to".

Having a head at a very obtuse angle to the shaft.

Flattening at the ends.

(of measurements of time) Exact.

So as to be flat.

Bluntly.

(of accurately measured timings) Exactly, precisely.

Used to emphasize the smallness of the measurement.

Completely.

Directly; flatly.

Without allowance for accrued interest.

An area of level ground (sometimes covered with water).

(in the phrase 'the flat') Level ground in general.

Level horse-racing ground, as contrasted with courses incorporating jumps, or the racing done on such ground.

The area in the centre of a racecourse.

(music) A note played a semitone lower than a natural, denoted by the symbol ♭ placed after the letter representing the note (e.g., B♭) or in front of the note symbol (e.g. ♭♪).

A flat tyre/flat tire.

(in the plural) A type of ladies' shoe with a very low heel.

(in the plural) A type of flat-soled running shoe without spikes.

(painting) A thin, broad brush used in oil and watercolour painting.

The flat part of something:

(swordfighting) The flat side of a blade, as opposed to the sharp edge.

The palm of the hand, with the adjacent part of the fingers.

A wide, shallow container or pallet.

(mail) A large mail piece measuring at least 8 1/2 by 11 inches, such as catalogs, magazines, and unfolded paper enclosed in large envelopes.

A railroad car without a roof, and whose body is a platform without sides; a platform car or flatcar.

A flat-bottomed boat, without keel, and of small draught.

(geometry) A subset of n-dimensional space that is congruent to a Euclidean space of lower dimension.

A straw hat, broad-brimmed and low-crowned.

A flat sheet for use on a bed.

(publishing) A flat, glossy children's book with few pages.

A platform on a wheel, upon which emblematic designs etc. are carried in processions.

(mining) A horizontal vein or ore deposit auxiliary to a main vein; also, any horizontal portion of a vein not elsewhere horizontal.

(technical, theatre, stagecraft) A rectangular wooden structure covered with masonite, lauan, or muslin, often produced in standard modules, that is used to build wall surfaces on stage. Flats can be painted and outfitted with doors and/or windows to depict a building or other part of a scene. It's a hard-surfaced alternative to a backcloth orbackdrop.

(entomology) Any of various hesperiid butterflies that spread their wings open when they land.

(historical) An early kind of toy soldier having a flat design.

(obsolete) A dull fellow; a simpleton.

(optics) A flat (i.e. plane) mirror

A cheater's die with the edges shaved to make certain rolls more likely.

An apartment, usually on one level and usually consisting of more than one room.

(poker slang) To make a flat call; to call without raising.

(intransitive) To become flat or flattened; to sink or fall to an even surface.

To fall from the pitch.

To depress in tone, as a musical note; especially, to lower in pitch by half a tone.

To make flat; to flatten; to level.

To render dull, insipid, or spiritless; to depress.

To beat or strike; pound

(transitive) To dash or throw

(intransitive) To dash, rush

Having an even and horizontal surface, or nearly so, without prominences or depressions; level without inclination; plane.

Lying at full length, or spread out, upon the ground; level with the ground or earth; prostrate; as, to lie flat on the ground; hence, fallen; laid low; ruined; destroyed.

Wanting relief; destitute of variety; without points of prominence and striking interest.

Tasteless; stale; vapid; insipid; dead; as, fruit or drink flat to the taste.

Unanimated; dull; uninteresting; without point or spirit; monotonous; as, a flat speech or composition.

Lacking liveliness of commercial exchange and dealings; depressed; dull; as, the market is flat.

Clear; unmistakable; peremptory; absolute; positive; downright.

Below the true pitch; hence, as applied to intervals, minor, or lower by a half step; as, a flat seventh; A flat.

Sonant; vocal; - applied to any one of the sonant or vocal consonants, as distinguished from a nonsonant (or sharp) consonant.

Having a head at a very obtuse angle to the shaft; - said of a club.

Not having an inflectional ending or sign, as a noun used as an adjective, or an adjective as an adverb, without the addition of a formative suffix, or an infinitive without the sign to. Many flat adverbs, as in run fast, buy cheap, are from AS. adverbs in -ë, the loss of this ending having made them like the adjectives. Some having forms in ly, such as exceeding, wonderful, true, are now archaic.

Flattening at the ends; - said of certain fruits.

In a flat manner; directly; flatly.

Without allowance for accrued interest.

A level surface, without elevation, relief, or prominences; an extended plain; specifically, in the United States, a level tract along the along the banks of a river; as, the Mohawk Flats.

A level tract lying at little depth below the surface of water, or alternately covered and left bare by the tide; a shoal; a shallow; a strand.

Something broad and flat in form

The flat part, or side, of anything; as, the broad side of a blade, as distinguished from its edge.

A floor, loft, or story in a building;

A horizontal vein or ore deposit auxiliary to a main vein; also, any horizontal portion of a vein not elsewhere horizontal.

A dull fellow; a simpleton; a numskull.

A character [$] before a note, indicating a tone which is a half step or semitone lower.

A homaloid space or extension.

To make flat; to flatten; to level.

To render dull, insipid, or spiritless; to depress.

To depress in tone, as a musical note; especially, to lower in pitch by half a tone.

To become flat, or flattened; to sink or fall to an even surface.

To fall form the pitch.

A level tract of land

A shallow box in which seedlings are started

A musical notation indicating one half step lower than the note named

Freight car without permanent sides or roof

A deflated pneumatic tire

Scenery consisting of a wooden frame covered with painted canvas; part of a stage setting

A suite of rooms usually on one floor of an apartment house

Having a horizontal surface in which no part is higher or lower than another;

Having no depth or thickness

Not modified or restricted by reservations;

Stretched out and lying at full length along the ground;

Lacking contrast or shading between tones

Lowered in pitch by one chromatic semitone;

Flattened laterally along the whole length (e.g., certain leafstalks or flatfishes)

Lacking taste or flavor or tang;

Lacking stimulating characteristics; uninteresting;

Having lost effervescence;

Not increasing as the amount taxed increases

Not made with leavening;

Parallel to the ground;

Without pleats

Lacking the expected range or depth; not designed to give an illusion or depth;

(of a tire) completely or partially deflated

Not reflecting light; not glossy;

Lacking variety in shading;

At full length;

With flat sails;

Below the proper pitch;

Against a flat surface;

In a forthright manner; candidly or frankly;

Wholly or completely;