sheer
1 Americanadjective
-
sheerer,
comparative
-
sheerest
superlative
-
transparently thin; diaphanous, as some fabrics.
sheer silk.
- Antonyms:
- opaque
-
unmixed with anything else.
We drilled a hundred feet through sheer rock.
- Synonyms:
- unadulterated, pure, simple, mere
-
sheer nonsense.
-
extending down or up very steeply; almost completely vertical.
a sheer descent of rock.
- Synonyms:
- precipitous, abrupt
-
British Obsolete. bright; shining.
adverb
-
clear; completely; clean.
ran sheer into the thick of battle.
-
perpendicularly; vertically; down or up very steeply.
noun
verb (used without object)
-
sheers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sheered,
past participle, past
-
sheering
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
sheers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sheered,
past participle, past
-
sheering
present participle
-
to cause to sheer.
-
Shipbuilding. to give sheer to (a hull).
noun
-
a deviation or divergence, as of a ship from its course; swerve.
-
Shipbuilding. the fore-and-aft upward curve of the hull of a vessel at the main deck or bulwarks.
-
Nautical. the position in which a ship at anchor is placed to keep it clear of the anchor.
adjective
-
perpendicular; very steep
a sheer cliff
-
(of textiles) so fine as to be transparent
-
(prenominal) absolute; unmitigated
sheer folly
-
obsolete bright or shining
adverb
-
steeply or perpendicularly
-
completely or absolutely
noun
verb
-
to deviate or cause to deviate from a course
-
(intr) to avoid an unpleasant person, thing, topic, etc
noun
-
the upward sweep of the deck or bulwarks of a vessel
-
nautical the position of a vessel relative to its mooring
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sheersimple
-
sheerssimple
-
have sheeredperfect
-
has sheeredperfect
-
am sheeringprogressive
-
are sheeringprogressive
-
is sheeringprogressive
-
have been sheeringperfect progressive
-
has been sheeringperfect progressive
Past
-
sheeredsimple
-
had sheeredperfect
-
was sheeringprogressive
-
were sheeringprogressive
-
had been sheeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sheer1
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English scere, shere, schere “free, clear, bright, thin”; probably from Old Norse skǣrr; change of sk- from s(c)h- perhaps by influence of the related Old English scīr ( English dialect shire “clear, pure, thin”); cognate with German schier, Old Norse skīr, Gothic skeirs “clear”
Origin of sheer2
First recorded in 1620–30; of uncertain origin; perhaps a special use of sheer 1
Explanation
If your curtains allow light to pass through, they're sheer, or see-through. Sheer can also describe something steep, like a cliff, or anything extreme, like sheer nerve. This word has several meanings, but they're all extreme. You might want to layer a sheer shirt over a tank top. Climbing a sheer cliff is almost impossible. If your car sheers, it swerves sharply, and you might crash. Maybe you've met all these meanings in a single nightmare: When the sheer fabric blew over your face as you drove, you lost control and the car began to sheer, filling you with sheer terror as you went over the sheer cliff.
Vocabulary lists containing sheer
The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 7
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List 8
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The New SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The sheer scale of Reform's record-breaking donation windfall has prompted an urgent debate across the parties.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
“I also think post-Epstein, post-#MeToo, post sheer volume of terrible behavior that men get away with, it has a different resonance today.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
I will never forget the confusion, and then the sheer terror, of that day.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
The sheer amount of time that gasoline prices have held above $4 a gallon this year is “contributing to household financial anxiety,” the analysts said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
There it pooled, relaxed, cleansed itself, and bubbled into laughter at the sheer joy of having us in its midst.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
What kept these lipsticks from looking dated is that they tended to be stains, not thick creams or dry mattes, with a sheerer, lighter texture than one would traditionally associate with such intense hues.
From New York Times ● Aug. 16, 2013
So he had a sheerer version tested and sold it in drugstores under the brand names Chez La Femme and Silky Legs.
From New York Times ● Mar. 22, 2011
Once I got the hang of twisting it just a little, then I got sheerer coverage, but it seemed difficult to do it right.
From New York Times ● Jun. 9, 2010
WOMEN'S stocking makers are engaged in fierce competition to get sheerer and sheerer hose on the market.
From Time Magazine Archive
He wore his signature royal blue robe, but as Rowan got closer, he could see it was a sheerer variation than the one he had worn at conclave.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
They were anchored to the north face of Mount Jannu, one of the world’s biggest, sheerest rock walls.
From New York Times ● Dec. 1, 2023
Into the deepest crevices, the darkest caves and the sheerest drops of our beings.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 23, 2019
But it would be sheerest hubris to assume those are the only concerns.
From Slate ● Jan. 25, 2017
Helen Frankenthaler’s canvases bare only the sheerest layers of color and paint. Yet with these works the artist straddled two of the most important artistic movements of the 20th century.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2016
Kate’s hands were always busy, mostly at drawn work on the sheerest of lawn handkerchiefs.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Even when tasked to outfit the girls in monotone uniforms, the costume designer Shirley Kurata adds individuality with textures of sheers, cutouts and pleats.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
Keep in mind that buildings, awnings, trees and sheers can decrease the amount of sunlight reaching the plants.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 20, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris, Ella Emhoff, helped the designer showcase his line of soft sheers coupled next to metallics and liquid-like gloves and leggings.
From Reuters ● Sep. 11, 2022
Grieu recommends hanging sheers behind heavier window treatments.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 16, 2022
But no! she has not succeeded, the other sheers off, and continues firing at a distance.”
From John Deane of Nottingham Historic Adventures by Land and Sea by William Henry Giles Kingston
Several news outlets showed video of a light blue Ferrari 812 Superfast with one of its wheels and side bumpers sheered off.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2023
A bed complete with its patterned sheet and pillow visible inside a room whose outside wall had been sheered clean away showed the scale of the task ahead.
From Reuters ● Feb. 6, 2023
For a weekend, the tour sheered off some of the distance between the nation’s executive and a curious, divided public.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 10, 2022
Mr. Lux said most county election offices received little damage — except in Bay County, home of Panama City, where wind sheered off its roof — and computer servers and voting machines remained intact.
From New York Times ● Oct. 17, 2018
Sometimes he sheered off the subject, or turned the conversation by pretending not to understand; but generally he answered all I asked most frankly.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
All of this sheering is a symptom of just how much fast fashion has reshaped our wardrobes.
From Slate ● Dec. 28, 2024
In any case, I would prefer not to deal with such questions, because it will turn out the same as sheering a pig – lots of squealing, little wool.”
From Time ● Jun. 25, 2013
It’s not what most highlanders have in mind: “We want to make the final products,” says Delfina Apaza, rubbing her hands after hours of manual sheering.
From Time ● Dec. 30, 2012
Suddenly, just after 7:20, the van lurched away from the monument, sheering off a flagpole next to the obelisk.
From Time Magazine Archive
Oddly enough the other horse seemed also to be sheering away to the left, so that in a few seconds the space between them had widened a good deal.
From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
