Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Very thin and light, almost transparent: Used to describe fabrics or materials that are so fine you can see through them.
   • Very steep; almost vertical: Used to describe a cliff, drop, or surface that rises or falls at a very sharp angle.
   • Complete and total; used for emphasis: Used to describe something that is nothing other than what is stated, often to emphasize its strength or degree.

2. Adverb:

   • Completely; straight up or down: Used to emphasize that something moves or extends in a perfectly vertical line.
   • Directly; without deviation: Used to describe a direct, unobstructed path or action.

3. Verb:

   • To change direction suddenly; to swerve: Used when a vehicle or ship turns sharply away from its course.
   • To cause something to swerve: To make a vehicle or ship change direction suddenly.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • She wore a dress made of sheer fabric. (The fabric was very thin and light.)
  • The climbers faced a sheer rock wall. (The rock wall was very steep and almost vertical.)
  • It was sheer luck that we found the keys. (It was nothing but luck; it was complete luck.)

• Adverb:

  • The cliff fell sheer to the sea below. (The cliff dropped in a perfectly vertical line.)
  • The rocket rose sheer into the sky. (The rocket went straight up.)

• Verb:

  • The ship had to sheer to avoid the iceberg. (The ship turned sharply to avoid the iceberg.)
  • The driver sheered the bus away from the fallen tree. (The driver steered the bus sharply away from the obstacle.)

Advanced Usage

• "Sheer away" or "Sheer off" (phrasal verb): To turn or move away sharply, especially to avoid something. It can also mean to avoid a person or topic of conversation.

  • The cyclist sheered off to avoid the pothole.
  • He tends to sheer away from difficult questions.

• "By sheer force/persistence/will": Emphasizes that something was achieved only through a single, powerful quality.

  • She succeeded by sheer willpower.

Variants and Related Words

• Sheerly (adverb): In a sheer manner; completely, utterly.

  • His success was sheerly a result of hard work.

• Sheerness (noun): The quality of being sheer (thin or steep).

  • The sheerness of the fabric made it elegant.
  • The sheerness of the cliff was terrifying.

Synonyms

• Adjective (thin): transparent, diaphanous, filmy, gauzy, see-through.
• Adjective (steep): precipitous, vertical, abrupt, perpendicular.
• Adjective (total): utter, absolute, complete, pure, unadulterated.
• Verb (swerve): veer, swerve, deviate, diverge.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Sheer off: To turn away sharply; to avoid.
  • The boat sheered off from the dangerous rocks.
  • Whenever politics is mentioned, he sheers off.

Related Idioms

• The sheer drop/face of something: Emphasizes the extreme vertical nature of a cliff or wall.

  • They stood at the edge, looking down at the sheer drop.

• Sheer nonsense/folly/madness: Emphasizes that something is completely foolish or illogical.

  • Ignoring the warnings was sheer folly.

Adjective

1. 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
2. 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
3. not mixed with extraneous elements
   • plain water
   • sheer wine
   • not an unmixed blessing
4. 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

1. directly
   • he fell sheer into the water
2. straight up or down without a break

Verb

1. cause to sheer
   • She sheered her car around the obstacle
2. turn sharply; change direction abruptly
   • The car cut to the left at the intersection
   • The motorbike veered to the right