sheerly

English

Etymology

From Middle English schyrly, equivalent to sheer +‎ -ly.

Adverb

sheerly (comparative more sheerly, superlative most sheerly)

1. Absolutely; purely; quite.
   • 1988 October 21, George Grass, “WagnerVision”, in Chicago Reader‎^[1]:

     On a sheerly technical plane, the projections used for the backgrounds were very effective, particularly in the third act, where a sunset faded most convincingly.

2. At a very steep angle; precipitously.
   • 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 238:

     The pit dropped sheerly from my feet, but a little way along, the rubbish afforded a practicable slope to the summit of the ruins.

3. (obsolete) At once.