sharpness

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sharp

(shärp)

adj. sharp·er, sharp·est

1. Having a thin edge or a fine point suitable for or capable of cutting or piercing.

a. Having clear form and detail: a sharp photographic image.

b. Terminating in an edge or a point: sharp angular cliffs; a sharp nose.

c. Clearly and distinctly set forth: sharp contrasts in behavior.

3. Abrupt or acute: a sharp drop; a sharp turn.

a. Intellectually penetrating; astute: was sharp in his analysis of the problem.

b. Marked by keenness and accuracy of perception: sharp hearing.

5. Crafty or deceitful, as in business dealings: sharp selling practices.

6. Vigilant; alert: kept a sharp lookout for shoplifters.

a. Briskly or keenly cold and cutting: a sharp wind.

b. Harsh or biting in tone or character: sharp criticism.

8. Fierce or impetuous; violent: a sharp temper; a sharp assault.

9. Intense; severe: a sharp pain.

10.

a. Sudden and shrill: a sharp whistle.

b. Sudden and brilliant or dazzling: a sharp flash of lightning.

11. Strongly affecting the senses of smell and taste: a sharp pungent odor; a sharp cheese.

12. Composed of hard angular particles: sharp sand.

13. Music

a. Raised in pitch by a semitone.

b. Being above the proper pitch.

c. Having the key signature in sharps.

14. Informal Attractive or stylish: a sharp jacket.

adv.

1. In a sharp manner: hit me sharp on the brow.

2. Punctually; exactly: at three o'clock sharp.

3. Music Above the true or proper pitch.

1. Music

a. A sign (#) used to indicate that a note is to be raised by a semitone.

b. A note that is raised a semitone.

a. A slender sewing needle with a very fine point.

b. A hypodermic needle: a canister for disposing of used sharps.

3. Informal

a. An expert.

b. A shrewd cheater; a sharper.

v. sharped, sharp·ing, sharps Music

v.tr.

To raise in pitch by a semitone.

v.intr.

To play or sing above the proper pitch.

[Middle English, from Old English scearp; see sker- in Indo-European roots.]

sharp′ly adv.

sharp′ness n.

Synonyms: sharp, keen¹, acute
These adjectives all apply literally to fine edges, points, or tips. Figuratively they indicate mental alertness and clarity of comprehension. Sharp suggests quickness and astuteness: "a young man of sharp and active intellect" (John Henry Newman).
Keen implies clear-headedness and acuity: a journalist with a keen mind and quick wits.
Acute suggests penetrating perception or discernment: an acute observer of national politics. See Also Synonyms at fashionable.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Sharpness

aichmophobia

an abnormal fear of pointed objects.

belonephobia

an abnormal fear of pins and needles.

Sharpness

See Also: PAIN, PARENTHOOD

(A whippet head,) barbed like a hunting arrow —Ted Hughes
Bite … as deadly as a camel’s —Wallace Stegner
Biting [language used in a book] as a chain saw —Bruce De Silva
(Her voice was) crisp as a freshly starched and ironed doily —Maya Angelou
Crisp as a handclap —Maxine Kumin
From a poem entitled A New England Gardener Gets Personal, the simile describes how kale comes to the salad bowl.
Crisp as frost —Babette Deutsch
Crisp as new bank notes —Charles Dickens
(A voice that) cut like a blade of ice —G. K. Chesterton
Cut like a knife —Rudyard Kipling Kipling’s simile links the knife’s sharpness to the wind.
[Cat’s fangs … ] fine as a lady’s needle —Ted Hughes
Incisively as an acid (a yell bit into the situation) —F. van Wyck Mason
Peppery as curry —Marge Piercy
Sharp as a bird’s painted bill —Dame Edith Sitwell
Sharp as an assassin’s dagger —Mike Sommer
(Face as) sharp as an ice pick —Graham Masterton
(The longing for lovely things … became as) sharp as a pang —Ellen Glasgow
Sharp as a scorpion —Dame Edith Sitwell
Sharp as a two-edged sword —The Holy Bible/Proverbs
(The smell of smoke was) sharp as brimstone —John Gardner
(My ideas fade, yours come out) sharp as cameos —Joseph Conrad, letter to Stephen Crane
(Eyes) sharp as mica —R. Wright Campbell
(All these things fell on her) sharp as reproach —Lord Alfred Tennyson
Sharp as the teeth of a saw —Marge Piercy
Sharp as truth —John Greenleaf Whittier
Sharp as white paint in the January sun —Wallace Stevens
Sharper than birth —Madeleine L’Engle
Sharper than ingratitude —Anon
This may be inspired by King Lear’s famous lament about a child’s ingratitude being “Sharper than a serpent’s tooth” in the PARENTHOOD category.
Sharp like joy —Sharon Sheehe Stark
Sharp-tongued, like a sadistic dentist —Neil Gabler Gabler, a television movie commentator, thus described a colleague, Pauline Kael.
A tongue like a cat o’ nine tails —Ben Hecht

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	sharpness - a quick and penetrating intelligence; "he argued with great acuteness"; "I admired the keenness of his mind" keenness, acuity, acuteness intelligence - the ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience steel trap - an acute intelligence (an analogy based on the well-known sharpness of steel traps); "he's as sharp as a steel trap"; "a mind like a steel trap"
	2.	sharpness - the attribute of urgency in tone of voice; "his voice had an edge to it" edge urgency - pressing importance requiring speedy action; "the urgency of his need"
	3.	sharpness - a strong odor or taste property; "the pungency of mustard"; "the sulfurous bite of garlic"; "the sharpness of strange spices"; "the raciness of the wine" raciness, pungency, bite spicery, spiciness, spice - the property of being seasoned with spice and so highly flavored
	4.	sharpness - the quality of being keenly and painfully felt; "the sharpness of her loss" distressingness, painfulness - the quality of being painful; "she feared the painfulness of childbirth"
	5.	sharpness - thinness of edge or fineness of point keenness acuteness - the quality of having a sharp edge or point shape, configuration, conformation, contour, form - any spatial attributes (especially as defined by outline); "he could barely make out their shapes" bluntness, dullness - without sharpness or clearness of edge or point; "the dullness of the pencil made his writing illegible"
	6.	sharpness - the quality of being sharp and clear distinctness uncloudedness, clarity, clearness - the quality of clear water; "when she awoke the clarity was back in her eyes" definition - clarity of outline; "exercise had given his muscles superior definition" discernability, legibility - distinctness that makes perception easy focus - maximum clarity or distinctness of an image rendered by an optical system; "in focus"; "out of focus" blurriness, fuzziness, indistinctness, fogginess, softness - the quality of being indistinct and without sharp outlines
	7.	sharpness - harshness of manner asperity ill nature - a disagreeable, irritable, or malevolent disposition bluntness, dullness - without sharpness or clearness of edge or point; "the dullness of the pencil made his writing illegible"

sharpness

noun

A cutting quality:

bite, edge, incisiveness, keenness, sting.

Translations

حِدَّه

ostrostšpičatost

skarphed

Schärfe

agudeza

âcreté acrimonie acuité âpreté

skarpleiki

acutezza nitidezza salacità

spisshet

острота резкость

keskinliksivrilik

锋利

sharpness

[ˈʃɑːpnɪs] N

1. [of knife, point] → lo afilado; [of edge] → lo afilado, lo cortante

2. (= abruptness) [of bend] → lo cerrado; [of turn] → brusquedad f

3. (= clarity) [of outline, image] → nitidez f, definición f; [of contrast] → lo marcado

4. (= keenness) [of mind] → perspicacia f, agudeza f; [of reflexes] → rapidez f
his eyes hadn't lost any of their sharpness → sus ojos no habían perdido nada de su agudeza

5. (= severity) [of pain] → agudeza f, intensidad f; [of remark, tone] → aspereza f; [of tongue] → mordacidad f
there was a note of sharpness in his voice → se notaba cierta aspereza en su tono
there is a sharpness in the air → empieza a notarse el frío

6. [of taste] → acidez f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sharpness

[ˈʃɑː^rpnɪs] n

[knife, razor, scissors] → tranchant m

[turn, bend] → angle m brusque

(= quick-wittedness) [person, mind] → vivacité f

[vision] → acuité f; [hearing] → finesse f

(= harshness) [tone, rebuke] → brusquerie f

(= clarity) [picture, image] → netteté f

[taste, smell] → âcreté f; (pleasant) → piquant msharp practice n → pratique f déloyale

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

sharpness

(of knife, blade etc) → Schärfe f; (of needle, point etc) → Spitzheit f

(of outline, photo, contrast) → Schärfe f

(= keenness, of eyes, wits, mind) → Schärfe f; (of nose) → Empfindlichkeit f; (of observation, remark) → Scharfsinnigkeit f; (= intelligence, of person) → Schläue f, → Gewieftheit f (inf); (of child) → Aufgewecktheit f

(= suddenness, intensity, of whistle, cry) → Schrillheit f; (of frost, contrast) → Schärfe f; (of desire, pain) → Heftigkeit f; (of hunger) → Größe f; because of the unexpected sharpness of the drop in prices → wegen des unerwartet steilen Preissturzes

(= acuteness, of angle) → Spitzheit f; (of bend, turn by car) → Schärfe f

(pej: = shrewdness) → Gerissenheit f, → Raffiniertheit f, → Cleverness f (inf)

(= fierceness) (of tongue, retort, tone of voice) → Schärfe f; (of person) → Schroffheit f; (of temper) → Hitzigkeit f

(= acidity, pungency, of taste) → Schärfe f; (of apple) → Säure f; (of wine) → Herbheit f; there is a sharpness in the air → es ist sehr frisch

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

sharp

(ʃaːp) adjective

1. having a thin edge that can cut or a point that can pierce. a sharp knife.

2. (of pictures, outlines etc) clear and distinct. the sharp outline of the mountain.

3. (of changes in direction) sudden and quick. a sharp left turn.

4. (of pain etc) keen, acute or intense. He gets a sharp pain after eating.

5. (often with with) severe. Don't be so sharp with the child!; She got a sharp reproach from me.

6. alert. Dogs have sharp ears.

7. shrill and sudden. a sharp cry.

8. of a musical note, raised a semitone; too high in pitch. F sharp; That last note was sharp.

adverb

1. punctually. Come at six (o'clock) sharp.

2. with an abrupt change of direction. Turn sharp left here.

3. at too high a pitch. You're singing sharp.

noun

1. a sharp note. sharps and flats.

2. a sign (#) to show that a note is to be raised a semitone.

ˈsharpen verb

to make or grow sharp. He sharpened his pencil.

ˈsharpener noun

an instrument for sharpening. a pencil-sharpener.

ˈsharply adverb

in a sharp manner. a sharply-pointed piece of glass; The road turned sharply to the left; He rebuked her sharply.

ˈsharpness noun

sharp practice

dishonesty or cheating.

ˌsharp-ˈwitted adjective

intelligent and alert. a sharp-witted boy.

look sharp

to be quick or to hurry. Bring me the books and look sharp (about it)!

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

The success of the Entertainment, and her own sharpness in looking after her interests, literally force me into a course of comparative honesty.

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He told him, too, of the jokes he had practised upon him, and of the device for the disenchantment of Dulcinea at the expense of Sancho's backside; and finally he gave him an account of the trick Sancho had played upon his master, making him believe that Dulcinea was enchanted and turned into a country wench; and of how the duchess, his wife, had persuaded Sancho that it was he himself who was deceived, inasmuch as Dulcinea was really enchanted; at which the bachelor laughed not a little, and marvelled as well at the sharpness and simplicity of Sancho as at the length to which Don Quixote's madness went.

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"Don't talk such nonsense, Cecily," cried the Story Girl with unwonted sharpness, a sharpness we all understood.

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He had worked on Bill's feelings so successfully as to elicit a loan of a million dollars, and was just proceeding to marry him to Elizabeth, when the cab stopped with the sudden sharpness peculiar to New York cabs, and he woke up, to find himself at his destination.

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Of course my shoeless foot suffered dreadfully; the hoof was broken and split down to the very quick, and the inside was terribly cut by the sharpness of the stones.

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With their greater infrequency the sounds increased in strength and sharpness. They hurt his ear like the trust of a knife; he feared he would shriek.

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He knew not what could be the use of those several clefts and divisions in my feet behind; that these were too soft to bear the hardness and sharpness of stones, without a covering made from the skin of some other brute; that my whole body wanted a fence against heat and cold, which I was forced to put on and off every day, with tediousness and trouble: and lastly, that he observed every animal in this country naturally to abhor the YAHOOS, whom the weaker avoided, and the stronger drove from them.

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We are getting reconciled to halls and bedchambers with unhomelike stone floors and no carpets--floors that ring to the tread of one's heels with a sharpness that is death to sentimental musing.

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"I command the Army of Revolt in this war," answered the General, with unnecessary sharpness.

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The extreme sharpness of the air acted on his nerves like an astringent, and braced them swiftly.

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But there was no other change in nature, unless indeed it were a change that I saw with a stranger sharpness. The gold was still in the sky, the clearness in the air, and the man who looked at me over the battlements was as definite as a picture in a frame.

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Huldah Meserve had an instinctive love of fun which appealed to Rebecca; she also had a fascinating knowledge of the world, from having visited her married sisters in Milltown and Portland; but on the other hand there was a certain sharpness and lack of sympathy in Huldah which repelled rather than attracted.