Meanings
- uncountableAlaskaCatastrophic land collapse caused by the melting of permafrost, coastal flooding and erosion.
Newtok was able to win roughly $1.7 million in 2018 to buy out seven of the most usteq-threatened homes in Newtok.
2021, Elizaveta Barrett Ristroph, “Navigating climate change adaptation assistance for communities”, in Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, volume 11, number 3, Springer, →ISSN, page 333, column 22 more examples
When the threat of permafrost thaw is high in a location also subject to erosion and flooding, the occurrence of usteq may be high.
2019 November, University of Alaska Fairbanks & U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Statewide Threat Assessment, Denali Commission, →OCLC, page 3-1The land upon which many Alaska Native communities are located is destabilizing in the face of usteq—a Yupik word for the catastrophic ground collapse that occurs when thawing permafrost, erosion, and flooding combine to pull the ground out from under them.
2022 April, Sarah Ruiz, “Woodwell launches new project monitoring, combatting the effects of permafrost thaw”, in Notes from the Field, Woodwell Climate Research Center, page 3
Origin
- Yup'ikuste-“erode, cave in”
- Englishusteq
Borrowed from Yup'ik uste- (“erode, cave in”). First attested in 2018.
More words from Yup'ik
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
usteq. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/usteq
“usteq.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/usteq. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “usteq,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/usteq.
Source: usteq on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.