steady

steady (stĕdʹē) adjective

steadier, steadiest

steadied, steadying, steadies

plural steadies

steadʹier noun

steadʹily adverb

steadʹiness noun

Synonyms: steady, even, equable, uniform, constant. These adjectives mean marked by lack of variation or change. Steady, the most general, can imply continuity, regularity, firmness, or steadfastness: Steady progress; the steady tick of the clock; a steady hand on the tiller; a steady, hard-working woman. Even suggests the absence of irregularity or fluctuation: maintaining an even tempo; has an even disposition. Equable usually implies an intrinsic or innate characteristic leading to a lack of variation, especially extreme variation: "The West Indian climate is . . . the most equable in the world" (Alec Waugh). Her father, an equable and genial man, is tolerant of her spirited stubbornness. Uniform emphasizes sameness, as in character or degree, in all aspects, parts, or elements: "Language was not uniform throughout the country but fell into dialects" (Kemp Malone). "Over all this the clouds shed a uniform and purplish shadow" (Robert Louis Stevenson). Constant implies invariability, as in nature or form: "Terror is the feeling which arrests the mind in the presence of whatsoever is grave and constant in human sufferings and unites it with the secret cause" (James Joyce).