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Added 8 October 2026

sheer

/ʃɪə̯/ adjective

In Latin: merus Wiktionary

adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about sheer at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Very thin or transparent.
Her light, sheer dress caught everyone’s attention.
Pure in composition; unmixed; unadulterated.
Downright; complete; pure.
I think it is sheer genius to invent such a thing.

adverb

Clean; completely; at once.

noun

A sheer curtain or fabric.
Use sheers to maximize natural light.

noun

The curve of the main deck or gunwale from bow to stern.
An abrupt swerve from the course of a ship.

Origin

From 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”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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