half-step
half-step is the alternative form of half step.
Verb
half-step (third-person singular simple present half-steps, present participle half-stepping, simple past and past participle half-stepped)
- To back down from; fail to follow through or complete; to be slack
- To fail to display full commitment, preparation, or genuineness; to be a poser; to be a fake or fraud
- No half-steppin', either you want it or you just playin' / I'm listenin' to you knowin' I can't believe what you sayin'2014 April 28, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Ariana Grande, Iggy Azalea, “Problem”, in My Everything, performed by Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea, track 2
Meaning of half step
Noun
half step (plural half steps)
Forms of half-step
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | half-steps |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | half-steps |
| present participle | half-stepping |
| past participle | half-stepped |
| past | half-stepped |
Origin of half-step
From half- + step.
Words formed from half-step
- half-stepping
Questions about half-step
- What does half-step mean?
- Half-step means to back down from; fail to follow through or complete; to be slack.
- What is half-step the alternative form of?
- Half-step is the alternative form of half step.
- What part of speech is half-step?
- Half-step is a verb.
- What is the past tense of half-step?
- The past tense of half-step is half-stepped.
Words near half-step in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: half-step (page history and authors); half step (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.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “half-step.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/half-step. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.