Gruff vs Sheer - What's the difference?
gruff | sheer |
having a rough, surly, and harsh demeanor and nature.
hoarse-voiced.
To speak gruffly.
* 2001 , Benny Hinn, He Touched Me: An Autobiography
(textiles) Very thin or transparent.
* '>citation
(obsolete) Pure; unmixed.
* Shakespeare
* Shakespeare
Being only what it seems to be; mere.
* 2012 , July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited,
Very steep; almost vertical or perpendicular.
Used to emphasize the amount or degree of something.
*
, title=The Mirror and the Lamp
, chapter=2 * 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):
(nautical) The curve of the main deck or gunwale from bow to stern.
(nautical) An abrupt swerve from the course of a ship.
(chiefly, nautical) To swerve from a course.
* 1899 ,
(obsolete) To shear.
(Webster 1913)
As adjectives the difference between gruff and sheer
is that gruff is having a rough, surly, and harsh demeanor and nature while sheer is very thin or transparent.As verbs the difference between gruff and sheer
is that gruff is to speak gruffly while sheer is to swerve from a course.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.gruff
English
Adjective
(er)Quotations
* 1727' "The manner of it was more after the pleasing Transports of those ancient Poets you are often charm'd with, than after the fierce unsociable way of modern Zealots; those starch'd '''gruff Gentlemen, who guard Religion as Bullys to a Mistress, and give us the while a very indifferent Opinion of their Lady's Merit, and their own Wit, by adoring what they neither allow to be inspected by others, nor care themselves to examine in a fair light." — Anthony Ashley Cooper Shaftesbury. ''Characteristicks of men, manners, opinions, times . Vol II. p218 * 1729' "They had no Titles of Honour among them, but such as denoted some Bodily Strength or Perfection, as such an one ''the Tall'', such an one ''the Stocky'', such an one the '''Gruff ." — Joseph Addison, Richard Steele. ''The Spectator. Vol VI, No 433. p146 * 1825' "Mr. Suberville, as well as she, surprised and pleased at this proof of politeness so unsuited to his gouty appearance and '''gruff manners, looked at him in astonishment, but were sorry to perceive him stoop down as if he had strained his leg in the exertion, while the pain it caused seemed to have driven every drop of his blood into his sallow face." — Thomas Colley Grattan. ''High-ways and by-ways. Vol III. p209-10Derived terms
* gruffly * gruffnessVerb
(en verb)- “Who gave you that?” replied my father angrily. “Did you bribe someone?” “No,” I told him. “It was a gift, from some people who really want me to be on this trip.” “Fine,” he gruffed .
sheer
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) (m), (m), (m), (m), from (etyl) .Adjective
(en-adj)- sheer ale
- Thou sheer , immaculate, and silver fountain.
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.
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.}}
- 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, verticalEtymology 2
; see also (m).Noun
(en noun)Verb
(en verb)- A horse sheers at a bicycle.
- I sheered her well inshore—the water being deepest near the bank, as the sounding–pole informed me.
- (Dryden)