Word Frequency
sheer1 (ʃɪə
)
Definitions
adjective
- perpendicular; very steep ⇒
a sheer cliff
- (of textiles) so fine as to be transparent
- prenominal absolute; unmitigated ⇒
sheer folly
- (obsolete) bright or shining
adverb
- steeply or perpendicularly
- completely or absolutely
noun
- any transparent fabric used for making garments
Derived Forms
ˈsheerly adverbˈsheerness noun
Word Origin
Old English scīr; related to Old Norse skīrr bright, Gothic skeirs clear, Middle High German schīrSynonyms
View thesaurus entry = total, complete, absolute, utter, rank, pure, downright, unqualified, out-and-out, unadulterated, unmitigated, thoroughgoing, unalloyed, arrant,
sheer2 (ʃɪə
)
Definitions
verb
foll by off or away (from)- to deviate or cause to deviate from a course
- intr to avoid an unpleasant person, thing, topic, etc
noun
- the upward sweep of the deck or bulwarks of a vessel
- (nautical) the position of a vessel relative to its mooring
Word Origin
C17: perhaps variant of shearTranslations for 'sheer'
- British English: sheer You can use sheer to emphasize that a state or situation is complete and does not involve anything else....acts of sheer desperation.ʃɪə ADJECTIVE
- Arabic: مُجَرَّد
- Brazilian Portuguese: completo completa
- Chinese: 全然的
- Croatian: potpun
- Czech: absolutní
- Danish: ren
- Dutch: doorzichtig
- European Spanish: puro puramero
- Finnish: pelkkä
- French: pur
- German: rein
- Greek: αμιγής
- Italian: puro pura
- Japanese: 全くの
- Korean: 완전한
- Norwegian: renabsolutt
- Polish: czysty czysta
- Portuguese: completo completa
- Romanian: pur pur, pură, puri, pure
- Russian: абсолютный абсолютная
- Spanish: puro pura
- Swedish: skir skirt
- Thai: เต็มที่
- Turkish: tam
- Ukrainian: справжній
- Vietnamese: hoàn toàn
Example Sentences Including 'sheer'
A relaxed, natural horseman, Leahy is entirely self-taught and capable, through sheer enthusiasm, of inspiring all comers into the saddle.Irish Times (2002)
And he'd seen the same picture, by sheer chance, on the late night news.BEHINDLINGS (2002)
Dogs were not destroying the house through boredom: it was through sheer panic.THE DOG LISTENER: Learning the Language of your Best Friend (2002)
He had brought it into the world, breathed life into it through an act of sheer will.AMAGANSETT (2004)
Mr Fagan said it was the sheer scale of some camps in recent years that caused problems.Irish Times (2002)
The centres and wings will provide Henry with his toughest decisions behind the scrum because of the sheer array of talent at his disposal.Glasgow Herald (2001)
The road corkscrewed up through a series of tight bends with sheer drops on the other side, just like in the Alps.KICK BACK (2002)
The sheer crater rim is expected to provide a window into deeper layers of the soil in this region, which may have once been a lakebed.New Scientist (2004)
WEDNESDAY Have been re-reading Mary McCarthy and am once again struck by the sheer artistry of her Memories of a Catholic Girlhood.Glasgow Herald (2001)
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