sheer
Downright; complete; pureDownright; complete; pure.
Recorded US: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
» This is sheer nonsense.
Das ist lauterer Unsinn. — brauchinet
Das ist völliger Quatsch. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
Це повна нісенітниця. — deniko
mailohilohi · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRTranslations
9 languagesBy meaning 4
By meaning 4
By meaning 3
Examples
68 sentencesThis is sheer nonsense.
Це повна нісенітниця. — deniko
deDas ist lauterer Unsinn. — brauchinet
That was sheer nonsense.
It's a sheer waste of time.
Це пусте гаяння часу. — Ahha
Meaning
5 senses(broadly)Downright; complete; pure.
I think it is sheer genius to invent such a thing.
This poem is sheer nonsense.
по́лныйpólnyj, чи́стыйčístyj
по́внийpóvnyj, чи́стийčýstyj
Very steep; almost vertical or perpendicular.
It was a sheer drop of 180 feet.
steil, vertikal, senkrecht
вертика́льныйvertikálʹnyj, отве́сныйotvésnyj
перпендикуля́рнийperpendykuljárnyj, прямови́снийprjamovýsnyj, вертика́льнийvertykálʹnyj
very steep; having a prominent and almost vertical front
Used to emphasize the amount or degree of something.
The army's sheer size made it impossible to resist.
bloß, schier, pur
су́щийsúščij, чи́стыйčístyj, настоя́щийnastojáščij
чи́стийčýstyj, і́стинийístynyj, спра́вжнійsprávžnij
More meanings 2
Very thin or transparent.
Her light, sheer dress caught everyone’s attention.
hauchdünn, transparent, durchsichtig
прозра́чныйprozráčnyj
прозо́рийprozóryj
so thin as to transmit light
(obsolete)Pure in composition; unmixed; unadulterated.
Origin
From Middle English shere, scheere, schere, skere, from Old English sċǣre (“pure, sheer; sFrom 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”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
sheerer/more sheer, sheerest/most sheer| Comparative | sheerer / more sheer Lesson |
|---|---|
| Superlative | sheerest / most sheer Lesson |
regular
Synonyms
65 synonyms- complete and without restriction or qualification; sometimes used informally as intensifiers:absolutedownrightout-and-outrankright-down
- not mixed with extraneous elements:plainunmingledunmixed
- very steep; having a prominent and almost vertical front:bluffbold
- so thin as to transmit light:diaphanousfilmygauzygauze-likegossamersee-throughtransparentvaporous
Antonyms
1 antonymsWord family
10 related wordsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A2Comparatives — Because it has a comparative form
- A2Superlatives — Because it has a superlative form
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.