Definition of 'steady'
Word forms: comparative steadier
, superlative steadiest
, 3rd person singular present tense steadies
, present participle steadying
, past tense, past participle steadied
1. adjective
A steady situation continues or develops gradually without any interruptions and is not likely to change quickly.
3. adjective
If you look at someone or speak to them in a steady way, you look or speak in a calm, controlled way.
4. adjective [usually verb-link ADJECTIVE]
5. verb
6. verb
If you steady yourself, you control your voice or expression, so that people will think that you are calm and not nervous.
7. exclamation
8.
See go steady
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
steady in British English
verbWord forms: steadies, steadying, steadied
8.
to make or become steady
exclamation
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
steadier (ˈsteadier) noun
steadily (ˈsteadily)
adverb
steadiness (ˈsteadiness)
noun
Word origin
C16: from stead + -y1; related to Old High German stātīg, Middle Dutch stēdigWord Frequency
steady in American English
(ˈstedi) (adjective steadier, steadiest, noun plural steadies, verb steadied, steadying)
noun
transitive verb
15.
to make or keep steady, as in position, movement, action, character, etc
His calm confidence steadied the nervous passengers
intransitive verb
16.
to become steady
adverb
SYNONYMS 1. balanced. 3. undeviating, invariable. 7. See steadfast.17.
in a firm or steady manner
Hold the ladder steady
18. informal
steadily, regularly, or continuously
Is she working steady now?
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
steadily adverb
steadiness
noun
Word origin
[1520–30; 1905–10 for def. 13; stead + -y1]Examples of 'steady' in a sentence
steady
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Quotations
slow but sure
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steady
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In other languages
steady
British English: steady
/ˈstɛdɪ/ ADJECTIVE
Something that is steady continues or develops gradually without any interruptions and is unlikely to change suddenly.
They were forecasting a steady rise in sales.
- American English: steady /ˈstɛdi/
- Arabic: مُنْتَظِم
- Brazilian Portuguese: constante
- Chinese: 稳定的
- Croatian: stabilan
- Czech: stabilní
- Danish: vedholdende
- Dutch: standvastig
- European Spanish: firme fijo
- Finnish: vakaa
- French: ferme stable
- German: ruhig
- Greek: σταθερός
- Italian: costante
- Japanese: しっかりした
- Korean: 안정된
- Norwegian: stabil
- Polish: stały stabilny
- European Portuguese: constante
- Romanian: constant
- Russian: устойчивый
- Latin American Spanish: firme
- Swedish: stadig
- Thai: เรื่อยๆ
- Turkish: sabit dengeli
- Ukrainian: незмінний
- Vietnamese: chắc chắn
British English: steady
VERB /ˈstɛdɪ/
If you steady something or if it steadies, it stops shaking or moving about.
- American English: steady /ˈstɛdi/
- Brazilian Portuguese: firmar
- Chinese: 使平稳
- European Spanish: estabilizar
- French: stabiliser
- German: beruhigen
- Italian: tener fermo
- Japanese: 安定させる/安定する
- Korean: 진정시키다
- European Portuguese: firmar
- Latin American Spanish: estabilizar
- Thai: จับให้มั่น, ไม่แกว่ง
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Definition of steady from the Collins English Dictionary
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