sheer Definition

sheer¹
adj

1. Complete; absolute or downright.

Example: sheer madness
Thesaurus: absolute, utter, complete, downright, total, unmitigated, unadulterated; Antonym: qualified.
2. Said of a cliff, etc: vertical or nearly vertical.

Example: a sheer drop
Thesaurus: steep, precipitous, abrupt, perpendicular, vertical.
3. Said eg of a fabric: so thin or fine as to be almost transparent.

Example: sheer tights
Thesaurus: thin, transparent, diaphanous, delicate, gossamer, gauzy, flimsy; Antonym: heavy, thick.

adverb

1. Completely.
2. Vertically or nearly vertically.

Example: a rock face rising sheer

Derivative: sheerly
adverb

Etymology: 12c as schere: possibly from a lost Anglo-Saxon equivalent of Norse skaerr bright.

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sheer²
noun

1. A deviation.
2. The fore-and-aft upward curve of a ship's deck or sides.

verb

sheered, sheering
1. To make something change course or deviate.

Etymology: 17c: partly another spelling of shear; perhaps partly from German or Dutch equivalent scheren to cut or withdraw.

Phrasal Verb: sheer off or away

To change course suddenly; to swerve or deviate.To move away, especially to evade someone or something disliked or feared.