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Sheer and Shear May Confuse You!
Posted by Editormum on Tuesday, 12 April 2005 in Definitions | ∞
A simple tip today: don’t get these two homophones confused.
Sheer is an adjective used to describe something that is nearly transparent (like sheer stockings) or that is smooth (like a sheer cliff). It is rarely used as a verb meaning “to move abruptly in a different direction,” as in The plane sheered away from the cliff and just avoided crashing.
Shear is a verb meaning “to cut off sharply.” Scissors may be called “shears” for this reason.
So you might say: The plane sheered upward to avoid the trees, but it wasn’t fast enough, so one of its wings was sheared off by a branch. The resulting crash caused sheer panic in the immediate neighborhood.
But you must not say, In shear anger, she slapped his face and kicked him in the shins.