Sheer

/ʃɪə̯/ · adjective

Meaning

(textiles) Very thin or transparent..

Definitions by Sense

1. (textiles) Very thin or transparent.
2. (obsolete) Pure in composition; unmixed; unadulterated.
3. (by extension) Downright; complete; pure.
4. Used to emphasize the amount or degree of something.
5. Very steep; almost vertical or perpendicular.
6. (archaic) Clean; completely; at once.
7. A sheer curtain or fabric.
8. (nautical) The curve of the main deck or gunwale from bow to stern.

Example Sentences

Her light, sheer dress caught everyone’s attention.

“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.”

She was cunningly dressed in a black, sheer gown with gold ornaments showing her figure to perfection.

If she say I am not fourteen pence on the score for sheer ale, score me up for the lying’st knave in Christendom.

Thou sheer, immaculate and silver fountain, / From when this stream through muddy passages / Hath held his current and defiled himself!

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

This poem is sheer nonsense.

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.

Synonyms for sheer

Antonyms for sheer

Related Words

Word Forms

• sheerer
• more sheer
• sheerest
• most sheer
• sheers
• sheering
• sheered

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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