sheerest

Adjective

sheer (comparative sheerer or more sheer, superlative sheerest or most sheer)

1. Very thin or transparent.
   • Her light, sheer dress caught everyone’s attention.

   Synonyms:

   diaphanous, see-through, thin

2. (obsolete) Pure in composition; unmixed; unadulterated.
   • If she say I am not fourteen pence on the score for sheer ale, score me up for the lying’st knave in Christendom.c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

   Synonyms:

   pure, undiluted

3. (broadly) Downright; complete; pure.
   • I think it is sheer genius to invent such a thing.

   Synonyms:

   downright, pure, unmitigated, utter, abject, frightful, absolute, prize, clean, arrant

4. Used to emphasize the amount or degree of something.
   • The army's sheer size made it impossible to resist.
5. Very steep; almost vertical or perpendicular.
   • It was a sheer drop of 180 feet.

   Synonyms:

   perpendicular, steep, vertical

See all 11 meanings of sheer