sheerly

sheer

S s

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [sheer]
- /ʃɪər/
- /ˈʃɪəli /

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [sheer]
- /ʃɪər/

Definitions of sheerly word

adjective sheerly transparently thin; diaphanous, as some fabrics: sheer stockings. 1
adjective sheerly unmixed with anything else: We drilled a hundred feet through sheer rock. 1
adjective sheerly unqualified; utter: sheer nonsense. 1
adjective sheerly extending down or up very steeply; almost completely vertical: a sheer descent of rock. 1
adjective sheerly British Obsolete. bright; shining. 1
adverb sheerly clear; completely; quite: ran sheer into the thick of battle. 1

See all 8 definitions of sheerly

Information block about the term

Origin of sheerly

First appearance:

before 1175

One of the 8% oldest English words

1175-1225; Middle English scere, shere, schere free, clear, bright, thin; probably < Old Norse skǣrr; change of sk- > s(c)h- perhaps by influence of the related Old English scīr (E dial. shire clear, pure, thin); cognate with German schier, Old Norse skīr, Gothic skeirs clear; see shine1

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Sheerly

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Sheerly

sheerly popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 96% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

According to our data about 71% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

sheerly usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer