How do you use the word "sheer" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "sheer": It was sheer coincidence that Mary and I were on the same train. It is a sheer waste of time.

Sheer Meaning

/ʃɪə̯/

Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

adjVery thin or transparent.

adjPure in composition; unmixed; unadulterated.

Sentence Examples

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

It is a sheer waste of time.

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

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

cut complete plain

Antonyms:

impure incomplete

CEFR Practice Quiz

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

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

The climbers were faced with a ____ cliff face that seemed nearly impossible to scale.

Word Origin & History

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”), Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌴𐌹𐍂𐍃 (skeirs, “clear, lucid”). Outside Germanic, cognate to Albanian hir (“grace, beauty; goodwill”).

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"“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.”" — 1954, Alexander Alderson, chapter 17, in The Subtle Minotaur:

"She was cunningly dressed in a black, sheer gown with gold ornaments showing her figure to perfection." — 1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 53:

"If she say I am not fourteen pence on the score for sheer ale, score me up for the lying’st knave in Christendom." — c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act INTRODUCTION, scene ii]:

"Thou sheer, immaculate and silver fountain, / From when this stream through muddy passages / Hath held his current and defiled himself!" — 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:

"That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired. And if the arts of humbleness failed him, he overcame you by sheer impudence." — 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words