Word.ws English Dictionary

deep-set

deep-set adjective: set deeply below a surface, as on a face.

Adjective

deep-set (comparative more deep-set, superlative most deep-set)

  1. Set deeply below a surface, as on a face.
    • His haggard eyes were deep-set, sunken into their sockets from exhaustion.
    • Deep-set and steady, with eyelashes that many a woman had envied, they [the eyes] showed the man for what he was—a sportsman and a gentleman. And the combination of the two is an unbeatable production.1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, chapter 1, in Bulldog Drummond
  2. (figuratively) firmly in place; long-standing
    • deep-set beliefs
    • deep-set inequalities

Forms of deep-set

comparativemore deep-set
superlativemost deep-set

Origin of deep-set

From deep + set.

Questions about deep-set

What does deep-set mean?
Deep-set means set deeply below a surface, as on a face.
What part of speech is deep-set?
Deep-set is an adjective.

Words near deep-set in the dictionary

  1. deep-sea prawns
  2. deep-sea spiny eel
  3. deep-sea spiny eels
  4. deep-seated
  5. deep-seeded
  6. deep-set
  7. deep-six
  8. deep-sixed
  9. deep-sixes
  10. deep-sixing
  11. deep-sky

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: deep-set (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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