Steepened

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To have been altered to a greater angle or slope To have undergone a sudden rise in intensity or severity To be distinguished by an increase in the gradient or challenge faced
2. Changed to a sharper angle or slope, creating a more pronounced incline ; experienced a rapid or marked rise in extent or intensity
3. Adjusted something to a more pronounced slant, resulting in greater steepness ; underwent a quick escalation or amplification in magnitude or severity

Etymology: "Steepened" is the past tense and past participle of "steepen," which is built from "steep" plus the suffix "-en," a common English verb-forming ending that means "to make or become" something, as in "widen," "harden," or "lengthen." The base adjective "steep" has been in English since Old English, and the verb it produced has a direct ancestor in the Old English "stīepan," meaning to make steep or to raise high. The chain is therefore a plain one: an old adjective for a sharp slope, plus a familiar verb-making suffix. Its meaning has widened well beyond hills and roofs. The original sense is physical, describing a path or surface that rises more sharply. The later figurative senses, such as a sharp rise in prices, costs, or tension, extend the same idea of a line that climbs faster. A steepening yield curve in finance, for instance, is a plotted line that rises more sharply, so the metaphor stays close to the geometry of the first sense.

Synonyms: increased, sharpened, ascended, heightened, intensified

Antonyms: flattened, decreased, dropped, lowered, diminished