sheer

CEFRB1

/ˈʃɪj.ə/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Very steep or almost straight up and down.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Complete or extreme.

Examples

  • It is a sheer waste of time.

  • It was sheer coincidence that Mary and I were on the same train.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ʃiə̯/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Downright; complete; pure.

  2. Pure in composition; unmixed; unadulterated.

  3. Very thin or transparent.

More examples

In context

  • The area is under threat from the sheer number of tourists using it.

  • Her light, sheer dress caught everyone’s attention.

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

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The mountain had a blank drop of over a thousand feet, making it impossible to climb.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

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 Low German schier (“sheer, pure, unadulterated”; “completely, almost”), Dutch schier (“almost”), Goth...