# sharpie

Pronunciation: US say "SHAR-pee" /ˈʃɑɹpi/; UK/AUS say "SHAH-pee" /ˈʃɑːpi/

## Noun

1. A felt-tipped marker pen, such as the Sharpie brand or a similar maker.
   - Simple: A pen with a felt tip that writes thick, dark, lasting lines.
   - _The artist outlined her sketch with a fine-tipped sharpie._
   - _He grabbed a sharpie and scrawled his number across the napkin._
2. A person who cheats or defrauds others, especially through trickery or sharp dealing. *(US)*
   - Simple: A person who cheats others to take their money.
   - _The old sharpie fleeced tourists with a rigged shell game._
   - _Investors later realized the fund manager was nothing but a sharpie._
3. An alert, quick-witted person who picks up on things faster than those around them. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A person who notices things quickly and thinks fast.
   - _The new analyst is a sharpie who flagged the error everyone else missed._
   - _Grandpa stayed a sharpie well into his nineties, never missing a trick._
4. A long, narrow fishing boat built for use in shallow coastal waters. *(US)*
   - Simple: A long, narrow fishing boat made for use in shallow water.
   - _Each morning the crew rowed the sharpie out to the clam flats._
   - _A weathered sharpie was tied at the end of the dock._
5. A member of one of the violent, stylishly dressed youth gangs active in the 1960s and 1970s. *(Australia)*
   - Simple: A member of a violent, sharply dressed youth gang from the 1960s and 1970s.
   - _The night ended in a brawl when a pack of sharpies stormed the hall._
   - _He dressed like a sharpie, all sharp collars and cropped hair._
6. A skilled, knowledgeable fisherman who understands the waters and the catch. *(dialectal, US)*
   - Simple: A fisherman who knows a lot about fishing and the water.
   - _The local sharpie read the tide and knew exactly when to set his nets._
   - _Only a sharpie could tell which channel the fish would run that season._
7. Clipping of sharp-shinned hawk. *(US)* — Clipping of sharp-shinned hawk.
   - Simple: Clipping of sharp-shinned hawk. Birdwatchers use it as a quick name for the small, fast woodland hawk.
   - _The bander recorded two sharpies during the autumn migration count._
   - _A sharpie chased songbirds away from the backyard feeder._
8. Clipping of sharp-tailed sandpiper. *(Australia, New Zealand)* — Clipping of sharp-tailed sandpiper.
   - Simple: Clipping of sharp-tailed sandpiper. Birdwatchers use it as a quick name for the shorebird.
   - _A lone sharpie fed among the stints along the estuary._
   - _Two sharpies were reported on the coastal lagoon this week._

## Origin

Formed from "sharp" combined with the diminutive suffix "-ie."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/sharpie (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).