How to Use steepen in a Sentence

steepen

verb
  • A large glacier steepened the side of the mountain.
  • The path steepened as we approached the summit.
  • Better still, the skew has steepened.
    — Michael Khouw, CNBC, 5 June 2026
  • That curve is still steepening.
    — Brian Barlow, Fortune, 28 Mar. 2026
  • Fixed asset investment fell for the first four months of the year as the real estate drag steepened.
    — Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 27 May 2026
  • That job, however, just became that much harder and that much more daunting with a climb that has steepened.
    — Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Jan. 2025
  • The price of eggs is steepening as bird flu spreads among poultry flocks in the United States.
    — Sara Chernikoff, USA TODAY, 4 Feb. 2025
  • Direct sales steepened their year-on-year decline to 9% from 2% for the two quarters, filings showed.
    — Evelyn Cheng,sonia Heng, CNBC, 16 Aug. 2024
  • The yield curve between the 2- and 10-year Treasury notes is steepening.
    — Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2024
  • In one case, a trader executed large futures blocks in a bet the curve from seven to 30 years would steepen.
    — Brian Chappatta, Bloomberg.com, 28 Sep. 2017
  • Church steepened the mountain’s profile, as the waves of black clouds threaten to obscure the blazing orb, struggling to begin a new day.
    — John Wilmerding, WSJ, 28 Dec. 2018
  • The yield curve has steepened a little, too, which has meant longer term mortgage rates have moved up even if shorter-term borrowing rates have been more stable.
    — Simon Moore, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025
  • New colors can be generated, the light can focus, or a light pulse might steepen and becomes even shorter and more intense.
    — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, 31 July 2017
  • This will encourage the yield curve to continue to bear steepen, with long-end yields rising faster than short maturities.
    — Washington Post, 2 May 2019
  • On Tuesday, the yield curve steepened somewhat , with long-term yields rising and their short-term counterparts falling.
    — Michelle Fox, CNBC, 26 Aug. 2025
  • So, again, this is where, as global growth takes off and other things happen, hopefully the yield curve will start to unflatten, right, to steepen.
    — WSJ, 19 Oct. 2017
  • This can suppress the price of the front-month and raise the cost of the second -- steepening the front end of the curve into an upward slope known as a contango.
    — Dani Burger, Bloomberg.com, 3 May 2017
  • The decline steepened after the terrorist attack in Barcelona.
    — Steve Lohr and Landon Thomas Jr., New York Times, 17 Aug. 2017
  • Hence the need to steepen the gradient of quality vaccines to overcome this resistance.
    — Muhammad H. Zaman, STAT, 26 Oct. 2021
  • Treasury yield curve steepening a bit, longer-term yields holding up as short-term yields slip to price in somewhat more certainty about imminent rate cuts.
    — Michael Santoli, CNBC, 12 Aug. 2025
  • For many students, repaying college loans is an uphill battle that continues to steepen.
    — Cheryl Winokur Munk, WSJ, 6 May 2018
  • The implications of the steepening sea-level rise on high-tide flooding are already apparent on the ground.
    — Jason Samenow, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2018
  • So why did the market ignore the BOE’s warnings, causing the yield curve to flatten rather than steepen?
    — Simon Nixon, WSJ, 6 Aug. 2017
  • So far, the Treasury yield curve’s steepening action has remained within the longstanding yield ranges.
    — Michael Santoli, CNBC, 27 Aug. 2025
  • Instead the curve is steepening as investors forecast higher economic growth.
    — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 4 Oct. 2018
  • The grade steepens past the Jacob Crosscut Trail and craggy rock formations rise.
    — Roger Naylor, azcentral, 14 Apr. 2020
  • But, a familiar bugaboo probably will steepen San Diego’s odds.
    — Tom Krasovic, sandiegouniontribune.com, 28 Jan. 2018
  • The next segment makes a steady, lung-squeezing climb gaining 700 feet in a series of tight switchbacks that steepen as you near a high saddle.
    — Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 18 Jan. 2022
  • The mountain steepens dramatically, to more than 50 degrees; the face widens and grows enormous.
    — Christopher Solomon, Outside Online, 22 Mar. 2018
  • Risk management is prudent as trends steepen in the semiconductor sector and relative strength fades.
    — Katie Stockton, CNBC, 1 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'steepen.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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