sheer

Adjective

• so thin as to transmit light
  • a hat with a diaphanous veil
    
  • filmy wings of a moth
    
  • gauzy clouds of dandelion down
    
  • gossamer cobwebs
    
  • sheer silk stockings
    
  • transparent chiffon
    
  • vaporous silks
    

• very steep; having a prominent and almost vertical front
  • a bluff headland
    
  • where the bold chalk cliffs of England rise
    
  • a sheer descent of rock
    

• not mixed with extraneous elements
  • plain water
    
  • sheer wine
    
  • not an unmixed blessing
    

• complete and without restriction or qualification; sometimes used informally as intensifiers
  • absolute freedom
    
  • an absolute dimwit
    
  • a downright lie
    
  • out-and-out mayhem
    
  • an out-and-out lie
    
  • a rank outsider
    
  • many right-down vices
    
  • got the job through sheer persistence
    
  • sheer stupidity
    

Adverb

• directly
  • he fell sheer into the water
    

• straight up or down without a break

Verb

• cause to sheer
  • She sheered her car around the obstacle
    

• turn sharply; change direction abruptly
  • The car cut to the left at the intersection
    
  • The motorbike veered to the right
    

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  bluff , bold , plain , unmingled , unmixed , absolute , downright , out-and-out(a) , rank(a) , right-down , sheer(a) , perpendicularly , swerve , curve , trend , veer , slue , slew , cut