deep
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: dēp
ipa: /diːp/
rhymes: -iːp
Forms: form: deeper
form: more deep
form: deepest
form: most deep
form: deepe
Etymology: From Middle English depe, deep, dep, deop, from Old English dēop (“deep, profound; awful, mysterious; heinous; serious, solemn, earnest; extreme, great”), from Proto-West Germanic *deup, from Proto-Germanic *deupaz (“deep”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ-nós, from *dʰewbʰ- (“deep”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots depe (“deep”), North Frisian diip, jip (“deep”), Saterland Frisian djoop (“deep”), West Frisian djip (“deep”), Alemannic German tüüf (“deep”), Central Franconian deef, deep (“deep”), Dutch diep (“deep”), German tief (“deep”), Luxembourgish déif (“deep”), Mòcheno tiaf (“deep”), Vilamovian tif, tīf, tiif (“deep”), Yiddish טיף (tif, “deep”), Danish dyb (“deep”), Faroese, Icelandic djúpur (“deep”), Norwegian Bokmål djup, dyp (“deep”), Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish djup (“deep”), Scanian djyber (“deep”), Gothic 𐌳𐌹𐌿𐍀𐍃 (diups, “deep”), Lithuanian dubùs (“deep, hollow”), Albanian det (“sea”), Welsh dwfn (“deep”).
Senses: examples: text: The lake is extremely deep.
text: We hiked into a deep valley between tall mountains.
text: There was a deep layer of dust on the floor; the room had not been disturbed for many years.
text: In the mid-1970s, the economy went into a deep recession.
text: We are in deep trouble.
text: Smooth runnes the Water, where the Brooke is deepe,
ref: 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 130, column 2:
text: Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
text: While Britain’s recession has been deep and unforgiving, in London it has been relatively shallow.
ref: 2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, “London Is Special, but Not That Special”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 Sep 2013:
text: The differences in biofilm penetration patterns of both tested photosensitisers and the light source could have played an important role for the survival of microorganisms after the application of aPDT. In a recent own study, we showed that the deepest layers of the oral biofilm were not affected by the aPDT [4 ].
ref: 2015 November 7, “Antimicrobial Photoinactivation Using Visible Light Plus Water-Filtered Infrared-A (VIS + wIRA) Alters In Situ Oral Biofilms”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI:
glosses: Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.
Extending far down from the top, or surface, to the bottom, literally or figuratively.
raw_tags: of distance or position
examples: text: Diving down to deep wrecks can be dangerous.
text: I can't get the bullet out – it's too deep.
glosses: Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.
Positioned far from the surface or other reference point, especially down through something or into something.
raw_tags: of distance or position
examples: text: The shelves are 30 centimetres deep. — They are deep shelves.
text: That cyclist's deep chest allows him to draw more air.
glosses: Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.
Far in extent in another (non-downwards, but generally also non-upwards) direction, especially front-to-back.
raw_tags: of distance or position
examples: text: The water was waist-deep.
text: There is an arm-deep hole in the wall.
glosses: Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.
Extending to a level or length equivalent to the stated thing.
raw_tags: of distance or position
examples: text: a crowd four deep along the funeral procession, and people two deep on the sidewalks
glosses: Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.
In a (specified) number of rows or layers.
raw_tags: of distance or position
examples: text: to take a deep breath / sigh / drink
text: Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes.[…]She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.
ref: 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
glosses: Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.
Voluminous.
raw_tags: of distance or position
examples: text: He is fielding at deep mid wicket.
text: She hit a ball into deep center field.
topics: ball-games
baseball
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
softball
sports
glosses: Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.
Far from the center of the playing area, near to the boundary of the playing area, either in absolute terms or relative to a point of reference.
raw_tags: of distance or position
examples: text: a deep volley
text: a deep run into the opposition half
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
tennis
glosses: Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.
Penetrating a long way, especially a long way forward.
qualifier: sports such as soccer
raw_tags: of distance or position
examples: text: Our defensive live is too deep. We need to move further up the field.
text: She returns serve from a very deep position.
topics: American-football
ball-games
football
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
tennis
glosses: Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.
Positioned back, or downfield, towards one's own goal, or towards or behind one's baseline or similar reference point.
qualifier: sports such as soccer
raw_tags: of distance or position
examples: text: the brachialis is deep to the biceps
text: The superficial fascia surrounds the body and includes subcutaneous fat; the deep fascia surrounds the musculoskeletal system; the meningeal fascia surrounds the nervous system; the visceral fascia surrounds body cavities and organs.
ref: 2018 November 8, Dr. Melina Jampolis, “The real science behind fascia ailments”, in CNN:
topics: anatomy
medicine
sciences
glosses: Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.
Further into the body.
antonyms: superficial
raw_tags: with to
of distance or position
examples: text: That is a deep thought!
qualifier: intellectual; social
glosses: Complex, involved.
Profound, having great meaning or import, but possibly obscure or not obvious.
examples: text: They're in deep discussion.
text: And it's me you need to show / How deep is your love?
ref: 1977, “How Deep is Your Love”, performed by Bee Gees:
qualifier: intellectual; social
glosses: Complex, involved.
Significant, not superficial, in extent.
examples: text: a deep subject or plot
text: Why it was that the ancients had no landscape painting, is a question deep almost as the mystery of life, and harder of solution than all the problems of jurisprudence combined.
ref: c. 1840, Thomas De Quincey
qualifier: intellectual; social
glosses: Complex, involved.
Hard to penetrate or comprehend; profound; intricate; obscure.
examples: text: Deepe clearks ſhe dumb's
ref: c. 1607–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, [George Wilkins?], The Late, and Much Admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: […] [William White and Thomas Creede] for Henry Gosson, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
text: I never said I was deep, but I am profoundly shallow / My lack of knowledge is vast, and my horizons are narrow
ref: 2009, Jarvis Cocker, “I Never Said I Was Deep”, in Further Complications.:
qualifier: intellectual; social
glosses: Complex, involved.
Of penetrating or far-reaching intellect; not superficial; thoroughly skilled; sagacious; cunning.
examples: text: Or doth she only seem to take
⁠The touch of change in calm or storm;
⁠But knows no more of transient form
In her deep self, than some dead lake
That holds the shadow of a lark
⁠Hung in the shadow of a heaven?
ref: 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XVI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 26:
qualifier: intellectual; social
glosses: Complex, involved.
Inner, underlying, true; relating to one’s inner or private being rather than what is visible on the surface.
examples: text: She has a very deep contralto voice.
text: The departure was not unduly prolonged.[…]Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments on the subject of Divine Intention in the disposition of buckets; farewells and last commiserations; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity.
ref: 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
qualifier: sound; voice; sound; voice
glosses: Low in pitch.
examples: text: That's a very deep shade of blue.
text: The spices impart a deep flavour to the dish.
text: The day was cool and snappy for August, and the Rise all green with a lavish nature. Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet:[…].
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
glosses: Highly saturated; rich.
raw_tags: of a color or flavour
examples: text: He was in a deep sleep.
qualifier: sleep
glosses: Sound, heavy (describing a state of sleep from which one is not easily awoken).
examples: text: The ways in that vale were very deep.
ref: (Can we date this quote?), Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641, Oxford: The Theater:
glosses: Muddy; boggy; sandy; said of roads.
examples: text: deep time
text: in the deep past
glosses: Distant in the past, ancient.
raw_tags: of time
Synonyms: sense: having great meaning
word: heavy
sense: having great meaning
word: meaningful
sense: having great meaning
word: profound
sense: thick in a vertical direction
word: thick
sense: voluminous
word: great
sense: voluminous
word: large
sense: voluminous
word: voluminous
sense: low in pitch
word: low
sense: low in pitch
word: low-pitched
sense: of a color, dark and highly saturated
word: bright
sense: of a color, dark and highly saturated
word: rich
sense: of a color, dark and highly saturated
word: vivid
sense: of sleep
word: fast
sense: of sleep
word: heavy
word: deep
Hypernyms: word: long
Hyponyms: word: ankle-deep
word: balls-deep
word: knee-deep
word: lip-deep
word: neck-deep
word: skin-deep
word: waist-deep
word: abysmal
word: abyssal
word: bottomless
word: depthless
word: fathomless
word: soundless
word: unfathomable
word: unplumbed
word: unsoundable
word: cavernous
word: chasmic
Derived terms: a mile wide and an inch deep
ankle-deep
balls deep
balls-deep
between the devil and the deep blue sea
bone-deep
deep abscess
deep adaptation
deep and meaningful
deep auricular artery
deep background
deep blue
deep brain stimulation
deep breathing
deep-breathing
deep-browed
deep cervical artery
deep clean
deep cleaner
deep cleaning
deep color
deep colour
deep copy
deep-copy
deep cover
deep cut
Deepcut
deep-dish
deep dish
deep-dish pizza
deep dive
deep-dive
deep diver
deep diving
deep down
deep draft
deep-draw
deepdraw
deep drawing
deep-drawing
deep-dye
deep-dyed
deep dyspareunia
deep ecologist
deep ecology
Deep Ellum
deep embedding
deepen
deep end
Deep England
deepfake
deep-fat-fried
deep fat fry
deep-fat-fry
deep-fat fryer
deep-felt
deepfelt
deep femoral artery
deep focus
deep freeze
deep-freeze
deep fried
deep-fried
deep-frozen
deep fry
deep-fry
deep fryer
deep frying
deep-frying
deep funk
deep geological repository
deep history
deep house
deepie
deep inelastic collision
deep inside
deepish
deepity
deep-laid
deep learning
deep learning speech synthesis
deep-level
deep link
deep linking
deep-lying
deep midwicket
deepmost
deep mourning
deep-mouthed
deepness
deepnight
Deep North
deep petrosal nerve
deep pile carpet
deep pocket
deep-pocketed
deep pockets
deep point
deep rhetoric
Deep River
deep-rooted
deep scattering layer
deep sea
deep-sea
deep-sea prawn
deep-sea spiny eel
deep-seated
deep-seeded
deep-set
deep six
deep-six
deep-sky
deep sleep
deepsome
deep song
deep soul
Deep South
deep space
deep-space
deep square leg
deep squat
deep stack
deep stacked
deep stall
deep state
deep stick
deep-submergence vehicle
deep tech
deep temporal artery
deep temporal nerve
deep thinker
Deep Throat
deep throat
deepthroat
deep-throat
deep-throated
deep-throater
deepthroater
deep time
deep underground military base
deep vein thrombosis
deep-vein thrombosis
deep water
Deep Water
deepwater
Deepwater
deep-water
deep-water solo
deep web
deep-web
deep Web
Deep Web
depth
dig deep
elbow-deep
foredeep
go deep
heartdeep
I'm 14 and this is deep
in at the deep end
in deep
in deep doo-doo
in deep shit
in too deep
knee-deep in the Big Muddy
knee-deep
kneedeep
Mediterranean Deep Water
neck-deep
neck deep
neckdeep
nondeep
off the deep end
overdeep
roll deep
run deep
semideep
six feet deep
skin-deep
still water runs deep
still waters run deep
superdeep
take a deep breath
throw in at the deep end
ultradeep
undeep
waist-deep
waist-deep in the Big Muddy
words cut deep
Related terms: word: high
word: tall
word: thick
word: wide
word: deeps
word: deep-seated
word: deep six
word: fundus
word: in deep shit
word: out of one's depth
word: subaqueous
word: subterranean
word: infinite