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sheer
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- pronunciation:
- shir
- features:
- Homophone Note
part of speech: |
adjective |
inflections: |
sheerer, sheerest |
definition 1: |
thin or fine enough to see through.
The scarf was made from a sheer fabric.- antonyms:
- opaque, thick
- similar words:
- airy, fine, light, thin, translucent
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definition 2: |
pure and total.
The story filled her with sheer terror.She won the prize by sheer hard work.- synonyms:
- pure
- similar words:
- absolute, complete, perfect, thorough, total, utter
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definition 3: |
straight up and down, or almost so.
He looked up at the sheer side of the canyon.- synonyms:
- vertical
- antonyms:
- gradual, sloping
- similar words:
- abrupt, perpendicular, plumb, sharp, steep, upright
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related words: |
delicate, flimsy, rank, vertical |
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derivations: |
sheerly (adv.), sheerness (n.) |
The words sheer and shear (to cut or trim) sound alike but have different meanings.
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