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   sheer

   /ʃɪə/

   adjective

   • 1. nothing other than; unmitigated (used for emphasis): "she giggled with sheer delight" Similar uttercompleteabsolutetotalpureperfectdownrightout-and-outthoroughthoroughgoingthrough and throughconsummatepatentsurpassingveritableunqualifiedunmitigatedunalloyedunadulteratedunmixedstarkrankplainsimplemereinformal:properfairarchaic:arrantrare:right-down
   • 2. (especially of a cliff or wall) perpendicular or nearly so: "the sheer ice walls" Similar precipitousvery steepperpendicularverticalabruptbluffsharpvertiginousrare:acclivitousdeclivitousscarpedOpposite gradual
   • 3. (of a fabric) very thin; diaphanous: "sheer white silk chiffon" Similar diaphanousgauzyfilmyfloatyvery thintranslucenttransparentsee-throughgossamergossamer-likechiffonyinsubstantialultra-finefineOpposite thickheavy

   adverb

   • 1. perpendicularly: "the ridge fell sheer, in steep crags"
   • 2. completely; right: archaic "she went sheer forward when the door was open"

   noun

   • 1. a very fine or diaphanous fabric or article: "I put up the new curtains and sheers"

   Word Origin Middle English (in the sense ‘exempt, cleared’): probably an alteration of dialect shire ‘pure, clear’, from the Germanic base of the verb shine. In the mid 16th century the word was used to describe clear, pure water, and also in sheer1 (sense 3 of the adjective).

   Derivatives

   • 1. sheerly adverb
   • 2. sheerness noun

   Scrabble Points: 8

   • S

     1

   • H

     4

   • E

     1

   • E

     1

   • R

     1

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