Chinese word

陡

Pronunciation

Pinyindǒu

Meaning

  • adjectivesteep

Example

山路上有一段很陡，骑车很危险。shān lù shàng yǒu yí duàn hěn dǒu qí chē hěn wēi xiǎn

There is a very steep stretch of mountain road, so riding a bicycle is very dangerous.

Illustration for 陡 (steep)

More examples

河岸的斜坡非常陡，雨后容易滑倒。hé àn de xié pō fēi cháng dǒu yǔ hòu róng yì huá dào

The riverbank slope is very steep, so people can easily slip after rain.

Core concept

A stretch of terrain that rises or drops sharply within a short distance, making passage difficult.

Common phrases

  • 陡峭的山坡dǒu qiào de shān pō

    steep hillside

  • 陡峭的悬崖dǒu qiào de xuán yá

    precipitous cliff

Similar words

陡峭dǒu qiào: Having a very steep slope or face, especially in a mountain, hillside, or cliff.
险峻xiǎn jùn: Steep and rugged enough to feel dangerous, especially when describing mountains, slopes, or passes.

Definition in Chinese

坡度在短距离内突然增大，给人陡直或难以通行的感觉，多用于描述地形的陡峭程度。pō dù zài duǎn jù lí nèi tū rán zēng dà gěi rén dǒu zhí huò nán yǐ tōng xíng de gǎn jué duō yòng yú miáo shù dì xíng de dǒu qiào chéng dù

Word origin

The character 陡 (dǒu, "steep") is a phono-semantic compound: 阝 (fù, "mound") points to land, while 走 (zǒu, "walk") provides the phonetic element.

Usage tips

  • In route descriptions, this adjective often carries a safety implication, since a short steep section may be hard to cycle or walk even when the whole route is not high.

Other meanings

  • sheeradjective

Opposites

Related words

  • 陡然dǒu ránsuddenlyadverb
  • 陡峭dǒu qiàoprecipitousadjective
  • 陡坡dǒu pōsteep slopenoun

Word lists with this word