sheer

sheer

thin; fine; transparent; steep: a sheer nightgown

Not to be confused with:

shear – to clip or cut; remove hair or fleece from: shear the sheep

Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

sheer ¹

 (shîr)

intr. & tr.v. sheered, sheer·ing, sheers

To swerve or cause to swerve from a course.

n.

1. A swerving or deviating course.

2.

a. The upward curve or amount of upward curve of the longitudinal lines of a ship's hull as viewed from the side.

b. The position in which a ship at anchor is maintained in order to keep it clear of the anchor.

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[Probably partly from Low German scheren, to move to and fro (said of boats), and partly from Dutch scheren, to withdraw; see sker- in Indo-European roots.]

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sheer ²

 (shîr)

adj. sheer·er, sheer·est

1. Thin, fine, and translucent: sheer curtains; sheer chiffon. See Synonyms at airy.

2.

a. Completely such, without qualification or exception: sheer stupidity; sheer happiness.

b. Free from admixture or adulterants; unmixed: sheer alcohol.

c. Considered or operating apart from anything else: got the job through sheer persistence.

3. Almost perpendicular; steep: sheer rock cliffs. See Synonyms at steep¹.

adv.

1. Almost perpendicularly.

2. Completely; altogether.

n.

One that is sheer, such as a curtain.

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[Obsolete shere, thin, clear, partly from Middle English shir, bright, clear (from Old English scīr) and partly from Middle English skir, bright, clean (from Old Norse skærr).]

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sheer′ly adv.

sheer′ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sheer

(ʃɪə)

adj

1. perpendicular; very steep: a sheer cliff.

2. (of textiles) so fine as to be transparent

3. (prenominal) absolute; unmitigated: sheer folly.

4. obsolete bright or shining

adv

5. steeply or perpendicularly

6. completely or absolutely

n

(Textiles) any transparent fabric used for making garments

[Old English scīr; related to Old Norse skīrr bright, Gothic skeirs clear, Middle High German schīr]

ˈsheerly adv

ˈsheerness n

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sheer

(ʃɪə)

vb

1. to deviate or cause to deviate from a course

2. (intr) to avoid an unpleasant person, thing, topic, etc

n

3. (Nautical Terms) the upward sweep of the deck or bulwarks of a vessel

4. (Nautical Terms) nautical the position of a vessel relative to its mooring

[C17: perhaps variant of shear]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sheer¹

(ʃɪər)

adj. -er, -est,
adv., n. adj.

1. transparently thin; diaphanous, as some fabrics: sheer stockings.

2. unmixed with anything else; unadulterated: sheer rock; sheer luck.

3. unqualified; utter: sheer nonsense.

4. extending down or up very steeply; almost completely vertical: a sheer descent.

5. Obs. bright; shining.

adv.

6. completely; quite: drove sheer off the road.

7. perpendicularly; vertically; down or up very steeply.

n.

8. a thin, diaphanous fabric or garment.

[1175–1225]

sheer′ly, adv.

sheer′ness, n.

sheer²

(ʃɪər)

v.i.

1. to deviate from a course, as a ship; swerve.

v.t.

2. to cause to sheer.

n.

3. a deviation or divergence, as of a ship from its course.

4. the fore-and-aft upward curve of the hull of a vessel at the main deck or bulwarks.

5. the position in which a ship at anchor is placed to keep it clear of the anchor.

[1620–30; perhaps identical with shear]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

sheer

Past participle: sheered
Gerund: sheering

Imperative

sheer

sheer

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	sheer - turn sharply; change direction abruptly; "The car cut to the left at the intersection"; "The motorbike veered to the right" slew, slue, swerve, trend, veer, curve, cut turn - change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense; "Turn towards me"; "The mugger turned and fled before I could see his face"; "She turned from herself and learned to listen to others' needs" peel off - leave a formation yaw - swerve off course momentarily; "the ship yawed when the huge waves hit it"
	2.	sheer - cause to sheer; "She sheered her car around the obstacle" channelise, channelize, guide, maneuver, steer, manoeuver, manoeuvre, point, head, direct - direct the course; determine the direction of travelling
Adj.	1.	sheer - complete and without restriction or qualification; sometimes used informally as intensifiers; "absolute freedom"; "an absolute dimwit"; "a downright lie"; "out-and-out mayhem"; "an out-and-out lie"; "a rank outsider"; "many right-down vices"; "got the job through sheer persistence"; "sheer stupidity" out-and-out, right-down, absolute, downright, rank complete - having every necessary or normal part or component or step; "a complete meal"; "a complete wardrobe"; "a complete set of the Britannica"; "a complete set of china"; "a complete defeat"; "a complete accounting"
	2.	sheer - not mixed with extraneous elements; "plain water"; "sheer wine"; "not an unmixed blessing" unmingled, unmixed, plain pure - free of extraneous elements of any kind; "pure air and water"; "pure gold"; "pure primary colors"; "the violin's pure and lovely song"; "pure tones"; "pure oxygen"
	3.	sheer - very steep; having a prominent and almost vertical front; "a bluff headland"; "where the bold chalk cliffs of England rise"; "a sheer descent of rock" bluff, bold steep - having a sharp inclination; "the steep attic stairs"; "steep cliffs"
	4.	sheer - so thin as to transmit light; "a hat with a diaphanous veil"; "filmy wings of a moth"; "gauzy clouds of dandelion down"; "gossamer cobwebs"; "sheer silk stockings"; "transparent chiffon"; "vaporous silks" cobwebby, diaphanous, filmy, gauze-like, gauzy, see-through, vaporous, vapourous, transparent, gossamer thin - of relatively small extent from one surface to the opposite or in cross section; "thin wire"; "a thin chiffon blouse"; "a thin book"; "a thin layer of paint"
Adv.	1.	sheer - straight up or down without a break perpendicularly
	2.	sheer - directly; "he fell sheer into the water"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

sheer

adjective

1. total, complete, absolute, utter, rank, pure, downright, unqualified, out-and-out, unadulterated, unmitigated, thoroughgoing, unalloyed, arrant acts of sheer desperation
total moderate

2. steep, abrupt, perpendicular, precipitous There was a sheer drop just outside my window.
steep gentle, gradual, horizontal, sloping, slanting

3. fine, thin, transparent, see-through, gossamer, diaphanous, gauzy sheer black tights
fine heavy, thick, coarse, opaque, impenetrable

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

sheer ¹

verb

To turn aside sharply from a straight course:

chop, cut, skew, slue, swerve, veer.

Nautical: yaw.

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sheer ²

adjective

1. So light and insubstantial as to resemble air or a thin film:

aerial, aery, airy, diaphanous, ethereal, filmy, gauzy, gossamer, gossamery, transparent, vaporous, vapory.

2. Completely such, without qualification or exception:

absolute, all-out, arrant, complete, consummate, crashing, damned, dead, downright, flat, out-and-out, outright, perfect, plain, pure, thorough, thoroughgoing, total, unbounded, unequivocal, unlimited, unmitigated, unqualified, unrelieved, unreserved, utter.

Informal: flat-out, positive.

Chiefly British: blooming.

3. Free from extraneous elements:

absolute, perfect, plain, pure, simple, unadulterated, undiluted, unmixed.

4. So sharply inclined as to be almost perpendicular:

abrupt, bold, precipitous, steep.

The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

شَفّاف، رَهيفعَموديعَمودِيّامُجَرَّدمُطْلَق ، مَحْض، صِرْف

absolutníčirýodchýlit sepřímo vzhůrustrmý

dreje aflodretrenstejltynd

reinschiersenkrechtabweichenausscheren

αμιγής

puroescarpadofinoligeroabsoluto

pelkkä

à picabruptfaire une embardéepur

potpun

algerbreyta um stefnulóîréttnæfuròunnuròverhníptur

deviarepurosemplicesottiletrasparente

全くの

완전한

absolūtsgluži nejaušikraujikraujšnogriezties

doorzichtig

dreie avflortynnrenstupbratt

czysty

completo

абсолютный

skrajen

skir

เต็มที่

tamyön değiştirmekçok incedimdikdimdik olarak

hoàn toàn

全然的垂直地突然转向纤细透明的绝对的

sheer

¹ [ʃɪəʳ]

A. ADJ (sheerer (compar) (sheerest (superl)))

1. (= absolute) → puro, absoluto
by sheer accident; by sheer chance → de pura casualidad
in sheer desperation → en último extremo
by sheer hard work → gracias simplemente al trabajo
the sheer impossibility of → la total imposibilidad de ... PURE

2. (= transparent) → transparente, fino

3. (= precipitous) → escarpado

B. ADV it falls sheer to the sea → baja sin obstáculo alguno hasta el mar
it rises sheer for 100 metres → se levanta verticalmente unos 100 metros

sheer off VI + ADV (Naut) [ship] → desviarse (fig) → largarse

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sheer

² [ʃɪəʳ] VI to sheer away from a topic → desviarse de un tema, evitar hablar de un tema

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sheer

[ˈʃɪə^r]

adj

(= pure) [boredom, delight, desperation, madness, stupidity] → pur(e), pur(e) et simple
It's sheer greed → C'est de l'avidité pure.
by sheer chance → par pur hasard

(= steep) [cliff, drop, rock face] → à pic abrupt(e)

(= almost transparent) [fabric, tights] → très fin(e)

adv → à pic, abruptement

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

sheer

adj (+er)

(= absolute) → rein; nonsense, madness → rein, glatt; stupidity → rein, schier; by sheer force of personality → aufgrund or auf Grund seiner Persönlichkeit; by sheer chance → rein zufällig; by sheer hard work → durch nichts als harte Arbeit; the sheer impossibility of doing that → die schiere Unmöglichkeit, das zu tun; it was sheer hell → es war die (reinste) Hölle (inf)

(= steep) cliff, drop → steil, jäh (geh); there is a sheer drop of 200 feet → es fällt 200 Fuß steil or senkrecht ab

cloth etc → (hauch)dünn, (hauch)zart; sheer nylon stockings → hauchdünne Nylonstrümpfe pl

adv → steil, jäh (geh); (= vertically) → senkrecht

vi (Naut) → ausscheren

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

sheer

¹ [ʃɪəʳ]

1. adj (-er (comp) (-est (superl)))

a. (utter, madness, greed) → puro/a; (waste of time) → totale; (necessity) → assoluto/a
that's sheer robbery! → è un furto bello e buono!
the sheer impossibility of ... → l'assoluta impossibilità di...
by sheer chance, by a sheer accident → per puro caso or pura combinazione

b. (transparent) → trasparente

c. (precipitous) → a picco
a sheer drop → uno strapiombo

2. adv → a picco, a perpendicolo

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sheer

² [ʃɪəʳ] vi (also to sheer off) (gen) (Naut) → deviare

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

sheer¹

(ʃiə) adjective

1. absolute. Her singing was a sheer delight; It all happened by sheer chance. suiwer مُطْلَق ، مَحْض، صِرْف абсолютен puro čirý rein ren og skær απόλυτος, σκέτοςpuro, absoluto selge, puhas مستقيما pelkkä purגמור पूर्णतया potpun, puki puszta erő, abszolút mutlak alger (puro e semplice) 全くの 전적인 grynas, visiškas gluži nejauši benar-benar louterreinczysty مازى، بالكل، فقط، مطلق: ستغ مخ، لوړمخ، خوړ: روڼ، نازك، نرى puro pur абсолютный, полнейший číry, úplný skrajen čist ren เต็มที่ sırf, tam 絕對的 абсолютний, цілковитий عین، بالکل hoàn toàn 绝对的

2. very steep. a sheer drop to the sea. steil عَمودي отвесен acentuado strmý hauchdünn stejl κατακόρυφος, απότομοςvertical, escarpado järsk يك راست jyrkkä abrupt תָּלוּל מְאוֹד निरा okomit, strm meredek curam þverhníptur a picco* 切り立った 깎아지른 듯한 status stāvs; kraujš mencuram erg steil loddrett, stupbrattspadzisty مستقيم، مخامخ a pique abrupt отвесный strmý zelo strm strm tvärbrant, lodrät ชันมาก dimdik 陡峭的 крутий, стрімкий تیز ڈھلان thẳng đứng, dốc 陡峭的

3. (of cloth) very thin. sheer silk. glad, dun شَفّاف، رَهيف фин fino tenoučký senkrecht tynd λεπτότατος (για ρούχο) muy fino õhuline ظريف ohut extra-fin דַק וְשָקוּף पतला tanak, proziran áttetsző tipis næfurþunnur sottile, trasparente ごく薄の 얇고 비치는 plonytis plāns halus dunflortynn, gjennomsiktigdelikatny, zwiewny, lekki نازك transparente foarte fin лёгкий, прозрачный tenučký zelo fin tanak mycket tunn, skir บางมาก çok ince (布料)極薄的 прозорий, легкий بہت مہین، پتلا mỏng, nhẹ （纱）纤细透明的

adverb

verticaly. The land rises sheer out of the sea. regop, vertikaal عَمودِيّا отвесно verticalmente přímo vzhůru ausscheren lodret κατακόρυφαverticalmente, en picado püstloodis يطور عمود jyrkästi à picישר खड़ा okomito függőlegesen tegak lóðrétt a picco* 垂直に 수직으로 stačiai, statmenai stāvus; krauji menegak loodrechtloddrettpionowo بالك، په څرګنده توګه a pique vertical прямо, отвесно priamo (z), rovno (z) navpično vertikalno tvärt, rakt แนวตรง dimdik olarak 垂直地 прямовисно; перпендикулярно عمودی، سیدھا thẳng đứng 垂直地

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sheer²

(ʃiə) : sheer off/away

to turn aside or swerve. The speed-boat sheered off course. swenk يَنْحَرِف отклонявам се (от курса си) virar odchýlit se abweichen dreje af παρεκκλίνω, στρίβω απότομα desviarse kõrvale pöörduma منحرف شدن kääntyä faire une embardée לִסטוֹת बहकना skrenuti s kursa, zaošijati iránytól eltér membelok breyta um stefnu (girare alla larga) 向きを変える 벗어나다 nukrypti nuo nogriezties; novirzīties [] melencong scherp zwenken dreie (ut) av zboczyć لاره چپول، له لارې ګرځيدل له لاريېاوښتل (لكه دبيړۍ virar a devia отклоняться, уклоняться odchýliť sa zaviti iz smeri skrenuti gira: gira (vika) av หลบหลีก sapmak, yön değiştirmek 避開，迅速轉向 відходити, ухилятися від курсу گھومنا، راستہ تبدیل کرنا tránh 避开，突然转向

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

sheer

→ مُجَرَّد absolutní ren rein αμιγής puro pelkkä pur potpun puro 全くの 완전한 doorzichtig ren czysty completo абсолютный skir เต็มที่ tam hoàn toàn 全然的

Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009