# sheer

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈʃɪə/ · frequency rank #7,060

## Definitions
1. Very thin or transparent.
2. Pure in composition; unmixed; unadulterated.
3. Downright; complete; pure.
4. Used to emphasize the amount or degree of something.
5. Very steep; almost vertical or perpendicular.

## Etymology
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”).
Cognate with Danish skær, German schier (“sheer”), German Low German schier (“sheer, pure, unadulterated”; “completely, almost”), Dutch schier (“almost”), Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌴𐌹𐍂𐍃 (skeirs, “clear, lucid”). Outside Germanic, cognate to Albanian hir (“grace, beauty; goodwill”).

## Easily confused with
- **shoe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-shoe)
- **Shen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-shen)
- **shep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-shep)
- **Shem** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-shem)
- **Shek** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-shek)
- **super** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-super)
- **sleep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-sleep)
- **speed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-speed)
- **sweet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-sweet)
- **steel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-steel)
- **shoes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-shoes)
- **swear** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-swear)
- **sheet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-sheet)
- **shell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-shell)
- **shelf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-shelf)
- **steep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-steep)
- **sweep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-sweep)
- **sober** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-sober)
- **steer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-steer)
- **spear** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheer-vs-spear)

## Common misspellings (7)
`hseer`, `seher`, `sheerr`, `sher`, `shere`, `shheer`, `ssheer`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/sheer