sheerly
1
6.4
- adverb
- /ʃɪrli/
- The climbers faced the sheerly vertical cliff that seemed impossible to scale.
Examples
-
The mountain dropped sheerly to the valley below, leaving no safe path to descend.
-
On April 2nd, the foretop lookout of Boudeuse sighted a towering peak shaped like a sugarloaf and rising sheerly out of the ocean.
Fiction book (1991) -
The waterfall plunged sheerly down the rocky face, creating a breathtaking sight.
Synonyms
80
2.3
Suddenly and quickly, showing a large change in direction or amount
12
7.6
Very quickly and suddenly, often causing a large change
9
3.0
In a way that goes up or down on a very sharp slope
1
4.5
In a straight up or down direction
1
9.8
Very steeply or in a way that makes you feel dizzy
Antonyms
How Steep
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Sheerly comes from sheer, which also carried the idea of being 'straight' or 'cut off', like the edge of a cliff. So when land or a drop goes sheerly, it falls 'directly down' or in a very steep, nearly vertical way.