sheer

complete and without restriction or qualification; sometimes used informally as intensifiers

• “absolute freedom”
• “an absolute dimwit”
• “a downright lie”
• “out-and-out mayhem”
• “an out-and-out lie”
• “a rank outsider”
• “many right-down vices”
• “got the job through sheer persistence”
• “sheer stupidity”

not mixed with extraneous elements

• “plain water”
• “sheer wine”
• “not an unmixed blessing”

very steep; having a prominent and almost vertical front

• “a bluff headland”
• “where the bold chalk cliffs of England rise”
• “a sheer descent of rock”

so thin as to transmit light

• “a hat with a diaphanous veil”
• “filmy wings of a moth”
• “gauzy clouds of dandelion down”
• “gossamer cobwebs”
• “sheer silk stockings”
• “transparent chiffon”
• “vaporous silks”

turn sharply; change direction abruptly

• “The car cut to the left at the intersection”
• “The motorbike veered to the right”

cause to sheer

• “She sheered her car around the obstacle”

straight up or down without a break

directly

• “he fell sheer into the water”