Entry Word: sheer

Function: adjective

Meaning: 1 very thin and easy to see through <we had to get window shades because passersby could see right through our sheer curtains>

Synonyms filmy, gauzy, gossamer, gossamery, transparent

Related Words clear, limpid, liquid, lucent, pellucid; lucid, translucent; dainty, delicate, flimsy, fragile, frail; colorless, uncolored

Near Antonyms opaque; cloudy, foggy, hazy, misty, murky, smoky (also smokey); drab, dull, lackluster, lusterless

2 having no exceptions or restrictions <survivors of the earthquake told of experiencing sheer terror> — see absolute 2
3 having an incline approaching the perpendicular <the sheer slopes of the ravine> — see steep 1