What does "deep" mean?
The deep part of a lake, sea, etc.
Deep
/diːp/ adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The deep part of a lake, sea, etc.
- Grammar: deep is listed as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: absorbed, absorbing, abstract, abstracted.
- Useful contrasts: desaturated, frivolous, high.
- Usage evidence: You'll find yourself in deep water if you continue to live beyond your means.
How to use "deep"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "deep" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "deep" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "deep" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "deep" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "deep" is acting as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "absorbed" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "deep", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The deep part of a lake, sea, etc. countable, literary, uncountable, with-definite-article
"creatures of the deep"
- 2 literary term for an ocean wordnet
- 3 The sea, the ocean. countable, uncountable, with-definite-article
"How few! yet how they creep / Through my fingers to the deep, / While I weep—while I weep! / O God! can I not grasp / Them with a tighter clasp?"
- 4 a long steep-sided depression in the ocean floor wordnet
- 5 A deep hole or pit, a water well; an abyss. countable, uncountable
"Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterfalls: All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me."
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 the central and most intense or profound part wordnet
- 7 A deep or innermost part of something in general. countable, uncountable
"And what delights can equal those That stir the spirit’s inner deeps, When one that loves but knows not, reaps A truth from one that loves and knows?"
- 8 A silent time; quiet isolation. countable, literary, uncountable, with-definite-article
"the deep of night"
- 9 A deep shade of colour. countable, rare, uncountable
"For our blues we have the azures and ceruleans, lapis lazulis, the light and dusty, the powder blues, the deeps: royal, sapphire, navy, and marine […]"
- 10 The profound part of a problem. US, countable, rare, uncountable
- 11 A fielding position near the boundary. countable, uncountable
"Russell is a safe pair of hands in the deep."
Verb
- 1 To overthink; to treat as being deeper (“more profound, significant”) than in reality. Multicultural-London-English, slang, transitive
"― Ugh, why are these road markings so awfully arranged? ― Quit deeping it bro, just drive, innit."
- 2 To think about, especially deeply (“profoundly”); to consider. Multicultural-London-English, slang, transitive
"No Picasso, I don't care about resistance (Deep dat)."
Adjective
- 1 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. also, figuratively
"The lake is extremely deep."
- 2 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. also, figuratively
"Diving down to deep wrecks can be dangerous."
- 3 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. also, figuratively
"The shelves are 30 centimetres deep. — They are deep shelves."
- 4 Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.; Extending to a level or length equivalent to the stated thing. also, figuratively, in-compounds
"The water was waist-deep."
- 5 Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.; In a (specified) number of rows or layers. also, figuratively
"a crowd four deep along the funeral procession, and people two deep on the sidewalks"
Show 15 more definitions
- 6 Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.; Voluminous. also, figuratively
"to take a deep breath / sigh / drink"
- 7 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. also, figuratively
"He is fielding at deep mid wicket."
- 8 Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.; Penetrating a long way, especially a long way forward. also, figuratively
"a deep volley"
- 9 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. also, figuratively
"Our defensive live is too deep. We need to move further up the field."
- 10 Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.; Further into the body. also, figuratively, often
"the brachialis is deep to the biceps"
- 11 Complex, involved.; Profound, having great meaning or import, but possibly obscure or not obvious.
"That is a deep thought!"
- 12 Complex, involved.; Significant, not superficial, in extent.
"Your analysis does not cut deep enough yet."
- 13 Complex, involved.; Hard to penetrate or comprehend; profound; intricate; obscure.
"a deep subject or plot"
- 14 Complex, involved.; Of penetrating or far-reaching intellect; not superficial; thoroughly skilled; sagacious; cunning.
"Deepe clearks ſhe dumb's"
- 15 Complex, involved.; Inner, underlying, true; relating to one’s inner or private being rather than what is visible on the surface.
"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?"
- 16 Low in pitch.
"She has a very deep contralto voice."
- 17 Highly saturated; rich.
"That's a very deep shade of blue."
- 18 Sound, heavy (describing a state of sleep from which one is not easily awoken).
"He was in a deep sleep."
- 19 Muddy; boggy; sandy; said of roads.
"The ways in that vale were very deep."
- 20 Distant in the past, ancient.
"deep time"
Adjective
- 1 exhibiting great cunning usually with secrecy wordnet
- 2 strong; intense wordnet
- 3 very distant in time or space wordnet
- 4 having great spatial extension or penetration downward or inward from an outer surface or backward or laterally or outward from a center; sometimes used in combination wordnet
- 5 relatively deep or strong; affecting one deeply wordnet
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 difficult to penetrate; incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge wordnet
- 7 of an obscure nature wordnet
- 8 with head or back bent low wordnet
- 9 having or denoting a low vocal or instrumental range wordnet
- 10 large in quantity or size wordnet
- 11 intense or extreme wordnet
- 12 (of darkness) densely dark wordnet
- 13 marked by depth of thinking wordnet
- 14 relatively thick from top to bottom wordnet
- 15 extending relatively far inward wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Far, especially far down through something or into something, physically or figuratively.
"The ogre lived in a cave deep underground."
- 2 In a profound, not superficial, manner.
"I thought long and deep."
- 3 In large volume.
"breathe deep, drink deep"
- 4 Back towards one's own goal, baseline, or similar.
"He's normally a midfield player, but today he's playing deep."
Adverb
- 1 to a great depth; far down or in wordnet
- 2 to a great distance wordnet
- 3 to an advanced time wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Antonyms
Example
"You'll find yourself in deep water if you continue to live beyond your means."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "deep"?
Common synonyms include: absorbed, absorbing, abstract, abstracted, abstruse, abstruse.
How do you use "deep" in a sentence?
You'll find yourself in deep water if you continue to live beyond your means.
How do you pronounce "deep"?
Pronounced /diːp/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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”).
Etymology 2
Two main origins: * From the adjective deep, either a topographic surname for someone who lived in a deep valley, or a nickname for a deep and thoughtful person. * Borrowed from Punjabi ਦੀਪ (dīp), from Sanskrit दीप (dīpa).