sheer

Study(18)

UK /ˈʃɪə/ US /ʃɪɚ/

adj 5noun 3verb 2adv 1name 1

Collocations

ADJ.

alone, black, due, gold, half, hard, light, swift

It was sheer hard work that got her through medical school.

VERB + SHEER

avoided, betrayed, cut, face, fainting, falls, ran, survived

She cut through the sheer fabric carefully with her sharp scissors.

SHEER + NOUN

badness, coincidence, coldness, everyone, gown, joy, luck, madness

It was sheer coincidence that we both arrived at the restaurant at exactly the same time.

PREP.

from, from, in, into, out, through, with

She managed to pass the exam through sheer determination and countless hours of studying.

ADV.

seemingly

The project succeeded through sheer determination and seemingly impossible odds.

Definitions

adj

Very thin or transparent.

Her light, sheer dress caught everyone’s attention.

“She sheathed her legs in the sheerest of the nylons that her father had brought back from the Continent, and slipped her feet into the toeless, high-heeled shoes of black suède.”

Pure in composition; unmixed; unadulterated.

If she say I am not fourteen pence on the score for sheer ale, score me up for the lying’st knave in Christendom.

Thou sheer, immaculate and silver fountain, / From when this stream through muddy passages / Hath held his current and defiled himself!

Downright; complete; pure.

I think it is sheer genius to invent such a thing.

This poem is sheer nonsense.

Used to emphasize the amount or degree of something.

The army's sheer size made it impossible to resist.

Perhaps as startling as the sheer toll was the devastation to some of the state’s well-known locales. Boardwalks along the beach in Seaside Heights, Belmar and other towns on the Jersey Shore were blown away. Amusement parks, arcades and restaurants all but vanished. Bridges to barrier islands buckled, preventing residents from even inspecting the damage to their property.

Very steep; almost vertical or perpendicular.

It was a sheer drop of 180 feet.

adv

Clean; completely; at once.

Hector the ashen lance of Ajax smote / With his broad faulchion, at the nether end, / And lopp’d it sheer.

Swift into the dark stream at once he fell, / As the red star at once falls swift and sheer / From sky to sea

noun

A sheer curtain or fabric.

Use sheers to maximize natural light.

Lightweight, tightly woven silkies, sheers, lingerie

Thesaurus

Synonyms

verb — turn sharply

adjective — very steep

adjective — not mixed with extraneous elements

plain
unmingled
unmixed

adjective — so thin as to transmit light

adverb — straight up or down without a break

perpendicularly

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

Example Bank

Her light, sheer dress caught everyone’s attention.

Wiktionary

“She sheathed her legs in the sheerest of the nylons that her father had brought back from the Continent, and slipped her feet into the toeless, high-heeled shoes of black suède.”

Wiktionary

She was cunningly dressed in a black, sheer gown with gold ornaments showing her figure to perfection.

Wiktionary

Hector the ashen lance of Ajax smote / With his broad faulchion, at the nether end, / And lopp’d it sheer.

Wiktionary

Swift into the dark stream at once he fell, / As the red star at once falls swift and sheer / From sky to sea

Wiktionary

Descending , and in half cut sheer

Wiktionary

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, sheer is marked as obsolete, archaic. Watch for register when choosing this word.

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