Challenging
Challenging adjective - Requiring considerable physical or mental effort.
Steep and challenging are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Steep" instead an adjective "Challenging".
Steep
Steep adjective - Having an incline approaching the perpendicular.
Challenging and steep are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Challenging" instead an adjective "Steep".
Both words in one sentence
- Merely passing Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA is not all that challenging - the main issue in that regard is the obscenely steep pass grade of 80%.
Source: Nintendo Hard / Rhythm Games - Those are areas with challenging monsters that you cannot escape from, so if you find yourself severely overmatched, you might end up having to continue a LOT of times, which winds up as a pretty steep bill...
Source: Continuing Is Painful
Cite this Source
Steep and Challenging. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 22, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/challenging/steep
Challenging & Steep. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/challenging/steep>.
Steep or Challenging. 2016. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/challenging/steep.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "challenging" and "steep" have occurred on timeline