sheer

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ʃɪɚ/ UK /ʃɪə̯/ See IPA manual

Freq #7421

Meanings

1

adj
Used to emphasize how great or pure an amount, degree, or quality is.

The army's sheer size made it impossible to resist.
2

adj
So thin that you can almost see through it.

Her light, sheer dress let the sunlight through.
3

adj
Very steep, almost straight up and down.

It was a sheer drop of nearly two hundred feet to the rocks below.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · used to emphasize how great... pure undiluted absolute complete downright

2 adj · so thin that you can almost... diaphanoussee-throughthin

3 adj · very steep, almost straight... perpendicular steep vertical

More filmy gauzy gossamer

Opposites

opaque

Word family

Forms sheeredsheerersheerestsheeringsheerlysheers

Derived forms plank-sheersemisheersheer-to-waistsheerishsheerlysheernesssupersheerultrasheer

Related forms slope total transparent

Appears in

Phrases (5)

See all

sheer beauty
pure, absolute beauty — used to emphasise how striking something is

Adjective + noun
sheer force
force that is impressive purely by its magnitude

Adjective + noun
sheer luck
success resulting completely from chance, emphasizing the total absence of skill or planning

Adjective + noun
sheer pleasure
absolute, unqualified pleasure

Adjective + noun
sheer persistence
determined effort continued despite difficulty, emphasized as the main reason for success

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English shere, scheere, schere, skere, from Old English sċǣre (“pure, sheer; shining, clear”), from Proto-Germanic *skairiz; supplanted the semantically close shire (dialectal), from Middle English schyre, schire, shire, shir, from Old English sċīr (“clear, bright; brilliant, gleaming, shining, splendid, resplendent; pure”), beside which existed Middle English skyr, from Old Norse skírr (“pure, bright, clear”), both from Proto-Germanic *skīriz (“pure, sheer”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₁y- (“luster, gloss, shadow”). Cognate with Danish skær, German schier (“sheer”), German Lo…

shere Middle English sċǣre Old English *skairiz Proto-Germanic schyre Middle English sċīr Old English skyr Middle English skírr Old Norse *skīriz Proto-Germanic *(s)ḱeh₁y- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# sheer

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ʃɪɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ʃɪə̯/
**Frequency rank:** 7421

## Meanings
1. Used to emphasize how great or pure an amount, degree, or quality is.
2. So thin that you can almost see through it.
3. Very steep, almost straight up and down.

## Examples
- The army's sheer size made it impossible to resist.
- Her light, sheer dress let the sunlight through.
- It was a sheer drop of nearly two hundred feet to the rocks below.

## Synonyms
- diaphanous
- filmy
- gauzy
- gossamer
- see-through

## Antonyms
- opaque

## Derived Forms
- plank-sheer
- semisheer
- sheer-to-waist
- sheerish
- sheerly
- sheerness
- supersheer
- ultrasheer

## Related Forms
- slope
- total
- transparent

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: shere
- Root: sċǣre
- Root: *skairiz
- Root: schyre
- Root: sċīr
- Root: skyr
- Root: skírr
- Root: *skīriz
- Root: *(s)ḱeh₁y-

## Etymology
From Middle English shere, scheere, schere, skere, from Old English sċǣre (“pure, sheer; shining, clear”), from Proto-Germanic *skairiz; supplanted the semantically close shire (dialectal), from Middle English schyre, schire, shire, shir, from Old English sċīr (“clear, bright; brilliant, gleaming, shining, splendid, resplendent; pure”), beside which existed Middle English skyr, from Old Norse skírr (“pure, bright, clear”), both from Proto-Germanic *skīriz (“pure, sheer”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₁y- (“luster, gloss, shadow”). Cognate with Danish skær, German schier (“sheer”), German Lo…

## AI Etymology
Sheer is from Middle English shere, scheere, schere, skere, from Old English sċǣre (“pure, sheer; shining, clear”), from Proto-Germanic *skairiz; supplanted the semantically close shire (dialectal), from Middle English schyre, schire, shire, shir, from Old English sċīr (“clear, bright; brilliant, gleaming, shining, splendid, resplendent; pure”), beside which existed Middle English skyr, from Old Norse skírr (“pure, bright, clear”), both from Proto-Germanic *skīriz (“pure, sheer”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₁y- (“luster, gloss, shadow”). Important forms in the word's history include Middle English shere, Old English sċǣre, Proto-Germanic *skairiz, Middle English schyre, Old English sċīr, Middle English skyr, Old Norse skírr, and related intermediate forms. In current use it includes senses such as Used to emphasize how great or pure an amount, degree, or quality is and So thin that you can almost see through it.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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