sketch
verb · noun · adjective
Simple meaning
To make a brief, basic drawing.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
skehchIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈskɛtʃ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
ambitransitive
To make a brief, basic drawing.
Describe roughly or briefly or give the main points or summary of
transitive
To describe briefly and with very few details.
ambitransitive
Make a sketch of
noun
A rapidly executed freehand drawing that is not intended as a finished work, often consisting of a multitude of overlapping lines.
A rough design, plan, or draft, as a rough draft of a book.
A brief literary description
A brief description of a person or account of an incident; a general presentation or outline.
A brief, light, or unfinished dramatic, musical, or literary work or idea; especially a short, often humorous or satirical scene or play, frequently as part of a revue or variety show.
A brief musical composition or theme, especially for the piano.
adjective
informal
Sketchy, shady, questionable.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- General and technical use
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (ambitransitive) To make a brief, basic drawing.
Used this way, sketch is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A map drawn from observation (rather than from exact measurements) and representing the main features of an area.
A book containing sheets of paper on which sketches can be drawn.
A book containing sheets of paper on which sketches can be drawn.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A book containing sheets of paper on which sketches can be drawn.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.