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Translucent vs Sheer - What's the difference?

translucent | sheer |

As adjectives the difference between translucent and sheer

is that translucent is allowing light to pass through, but diffusing it while sheer is very thin or transparent.

As an adverb sheer is

clean; quite; at once.

As a noun sheer is

the curve of the main deck or gunwale from bow to stern.

As a verb sheer is

to swerve from a course.

translucent

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Allowing light to pass through, but diffusing it.
  • * 1913 , , The Day of Days , ch. 1:
  • The window-panes, encrusted with perennial deposits of Atmosphere, were less transparent than translucent .
  • * 1921 , , Jill the Reckless , ch. 21:
  • On the windows of the nearer buildings the sun cast glittering beams, but further away a faint, translucent mist hid the city.
  • Clear, lucid, or transparent.
  • * 1884 , Henry J. Ramsdell, Life and Public Services of Hon. James G. Blaine , Hubbard, pp. 105-106:
  • Mr. Blaine's powers and disposition shone resplendent. . . . the gavel in his practised hand, chiming in with varied tones that aptly enforced his words, from the sharp rat-tat-tat that recalled the House to decorum, to the vigorous thunder that actually drowned unparliamentary speech; rulings, repartee, translucent explanation flashing from his lips as quick as lighting.
  • * 1904 , , The Club of Queer Trades , ch. 4:
  • "I was startled at your not seeing it from the beginning. The man is a translucent liar and knave."
  • * 1919 , , The Lords of the Wild , ch. 3:
  • [T]he sun was in its greatest splendor, and the air was absolutely translucent . The lake and the mountains sprang out, sharp and clear.

    Coordinate terms

    * opaque * transparent

    sheer

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m), (m), (m), (m), from (etyl) .

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • (textiles) Very thin or transparent.
  • * '>citation
  • (obsolete) Pure; unmixed.
  • * Shakespeare
  • sheer ale
  • * Shakespeare
  • Thou sheer , immaculate, and silver fountain.
  • Being only what it seems to be; mere.
  • * 2012 , July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track
  • Cycling's complex etiquette contains an unwritten rule that riders in contention for a race win should not be penalised for sheer misfortune.
  • Very steep; almost vertical or perpendicular.
  • Used to emphasize the amount or degree of something.
  • *
  • , title=The Mirror and the Lamp , chapter=2 citation , passage=That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired. And if the arts of humbleness failed him, he overcame you by sheer impudence.}}
  • * 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/nyregion/new-jersey-continues-to-cope-with-hurricane-sandy.html?hp]," New York Times (retrieved 31 October 2012):
  • Perhaps as startling as the sheer toll was the devastation to some of the state’s well-known locales. Boardwalks along the beach in Seaside Heights, Belmar and other towns on the Jersey Shore were blown away. Amusement parks, arcades and restaurants all but vanished. Bridges to barrier islands buckled, preventing residents from even inspecting the damage to their property.
    Synonyms
    * (very thin or transparent) diaphanous, see-through, thin * downright, mere, pure, undiluted, unmitigated * (straight up and down) perpendicular, steep, vertical

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (archaic) clean; quite; at once.
  • (Milton)

    Etymology 2

    ; see also (m).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (nautical) The curve of the main deck or gunwale from bow to stern.
  • (nautical) An abrupt swerve from the course of a ship.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (chiefly, nautical) To swerve from a course.
  • A horse sheers at a bicycle.
  • * 1899 ,
  • I sheered her well inshore—the water being deepest near the bank, as the sounding–pole informed me.
  • (obsolete) To shear.
  • (Dryden)

    References

    (Webster 1913)

    Anagrams

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