Join Us On

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

Thesaurus

Medical

Scrabble^®

Spanish Central

Browse Dictionary Browse Thesaurus

Get our free apps!iPhone•iPad•Android

Dictionary

¹sheer

verb \ˈshir\

: to turn suddenly

Full Definition of SHEER

intransitive verb

: to deviate from a course : swerve

transitive verb

: to cause to sheer

See sheer defined for English-language learners

Origin of SHEER

perhaps alteration of ¹shear

First Known Use: 1539

Related to SHEER

Synonyms: detour, deviate, diverge, turn, swerve, swing, turn off, veer, wheel

Antonyms: straighten

Rhymes with SHEER

beer, bier, blear, cere, cheer, clear, dear, deer, Deere, drear, ear, fear, fere, fleer, gear, hear, here, jeer, leer, mere, mir, near, peer, pier, Pierre, queer, rear, schmear, sear, seer, sere, shear, skirr, smear, sneer, spear, speer, sphere, steer, tear, tier, Trier, Tyr, veer, weir, year

²sheer

noun

Definition of SHEER

: a turn, deviation, or change in a course (as of a ship)

: the position of a ship riding to a single anchor and heading toward it

First Known Use of SHEER

1670

³sheer

adjective

—used to emphasize the large amount, size, or degree of something

: complete and total

: very steep : almost straight up and down

Full Definition of SHEER

obsolete : bright, shining

: of very thin or transparent texture : diaphanous

a : unqualified, utter <sheer folly> <sheer ignorance>

b : being free from an adulterant : pure, unmixed

c : viewed or acting in dissociation from all else <in terms of sheer numbers>

: marked by great and continuous steepness

— sheer·ly adverb

— sheer·ness noun

See sheer defined for English-language learners

See sheer defined for kids

Origin of SHEER

Middle English schere freed from guilt, probably alteration of skere, from Old Norse skærr pure; akin to Old English scīnan to shine

First Known Use: circa 1568

Related to SHEER

Synonyms: cobwebby, diaphanous, filmy, gauzelike, gauzy, gossamer, gossamery, see-through, transparent

Antonyms: easy

Synonym Discussion of SHEER

steep, abrupt, precipitous, sheer mean having an incline approaching the perpendicular. steep implies such sharpness of pitch that ascent or descent is very difficult <a steep hill> <a steep dive>. abrupt implies a sharper pitch and a sudden break in the level <a beach with an abrupt drop-off>. precipitous applies to an incline approaching the vertical <the river winds through a precipitous gorge>. sheer suggests an unbroken perpendicular expanse <sheer cliffs that daunted the climbers>.