| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| sheer2 |
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| PRONUNCIATION: |  shîr |
| ADJECTIVE: | Inflected forms: sheer·er, sheer·est
1. Thin, fine, and transparent: sheer curtains; sheer chiffon. See synonyms at airy. 2a. Completely such, without qualification or exception: sheer stupidity; sheer happiness. b. Free from admixture or adulterants; unmixed: sheer alcohol. See synonyms at pure. c. Considered or operating apart from anything else: got the job through sheer persistence. 3. Almost perpendicular; steep: sheer rock cliffs. See synonyms at steep1. | | ADVERB: | 1. Almost perpendicularly. 2. Completely; altogether. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Obsolete shere, thin, clear, partly from Middle English shir, bright, clear (from Old English sc r)and partly from Middle English skir, bright, clean (from Old Norse skærr).| OTHER FORMS: | sheer ly —ADVERB
sheerness —NOUN
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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