sketch

Pluralsketches

Formssketches, sketching, sketched

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A quick, freehand drawing made without much detail, often built from many overlapping lines, and not intended as a finished work.

   The artist filled three pages with sketches of the harbor at dawn.

   He made a rough sketch of the suspect's face from the witness's description.

   Similardrawing, study, outline

   Note

   A working drawing, made to be used rather than admired. In Richard Jefferies's The Amateur Poacher (1879), a blacksmith forges a spearhead from a sketch of a picture. Brian Hayes, writing in American Scientist in 2012, lists blackboard sketches alongside geological maps and molecular diagrams as tools of scientific argument. In both, the drawing gets a job done and is not meant to be framed.

2. 2
   verbtransitive or intransitive

   To make a brief, basic drawing of something.

   Students had ten minutes to sketch the bowl of fruit on the table.

   He sat by the window, sketching the people passing below.

   Similardraw, outline, pencil

   Note

   Speed is built into this verb. It goes back through Italian schizzo and Dutch schets or German Skizze to Greek skhedios, 'made suddenly, off-hand.' It works with or without an object: you can sketch the harbor, or simply sketch, as someone does who sketches with a pen rather than a pencil. Scheme is a relative worth comparing.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A brief description of a person or account of an incident; a general outline or presentation.

   The biography opens with a sketch of the senator's early years.

   Reporters received only a sketch of the negotiations before the press conference.

   Similaroutline, summary, profile, portrait, overview

   Note

   Writers know this sense best as the character sketch, the short portrait of a person that is a familiar assignment in novel study. Pen picture and pen portrait are close equivalents. All three suggest a few telling strokes rather than a full biography, so a sketch of someone promises the essentials and nothing more.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A rough design, plan, or draft, such as an early draft of a book.

   Her first sketch of the dissertation ran to only five pages.

   The founders worked from a sketch of the business model scrawled on a napkin.

   Similardraft, outline, plan, blueprint

5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To describe something briefly and with very few details.

   He paused to sketch the background of the case before answering questions.

   The report sketches the main arguments without taking a side.

   Similaroutline, summarize, describe

   Oppositedetail

   Note

   Here the outline is made in words, and the verb always needs an object: you sketch an accident, a background or an argument, never just sketch. A good sketch of events keeps to the facts and leaves out the shading. That object marks it off from the drawing verb, which can stand alone.

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A brief, light, or unfinished piece or idea in drama, music, or writing; especially a short scene or play, often comic or satirical, frequently staged within a variety show or revue.

   The troupe closed the revue with a sketch mocking the city council's new parking rules.

   She spent her twenties writing sketches for a late-night variety show before landing her own sitcom.

   Similarskit

   Note

   The Greek behind the word, skhédios, “made suddenly, off-hand,” suits the stage as well as it suits the artist's quick drawing: a sketch is short and light, and makes no claim to be a full play. In its main use it is performed rather than read, which separates it from the written sketch. It belongs to the revue or variety show, and its mode is often comic or satirical.

7. 7
   nouncountable

   An essay, short story, or similar literary piece that is brief, light in tone, or casual in style.

   The collection gathers the comic sketches he wrote for various magazines early in his career.

   Her sketch of village life ran to barely two thousand words.

   Similarvignette, piece

8. 8
   nouncountable

   A brief instrumental piece or musical theme, most commonly one for the piano.

   The recital ended with a delicate sketch for solo piano.

   The composer's piano sketches, each under three minutes, became favorites of amateur players.

   Similarminiature

   Note

   One branch of a family of brief, light works that spans drama, music and literature. Its best-known member is the short comic scene in a revue or variety show, where skit is the near-synonym. In music the word names a short composition or theme, very often for piano. Here brevity is the character of the piece, not a shortcoming.

9. 9
   adjectivecolloquial

   Of dubious safety or character; questionable, shady, or untrustworthy.

   The deal sounded sketch from the start, so she walked away.

   We left the party early because the crowd was getting sketch.

   Similarshady, dodgy, fishy, dubious, iffy

   Oppositelegit, safe, trustworthy

   Note

   Sketchy cut down to its root, and it keeps only the 'shady' meaning. It usually comes after a verb, as in 'that's sketch' or 'getting sketch,' and it compares with more and most (more sketch) rather than taking an ending. It is casual speech; in careful writing, sketchy or questionable is the safer choice.

10. 10
    nouncolloquialcountable

    An amusing person; someone whose behavior or talk entertains others.

    My grandmother was a sketch, forever doing impressions of the neighbors.

    He's a sketch on the golf course, narrating every shot like a broadcaster.

    Similarcard, character, riot, hoot, scream

11. 11
    nounUKcountable

    A newspaper account that uses extensive metaphor, paraphrase, and caricature to give a humorous summary of the day's political events.

    His parliamentary sketch compared the debate to a school sports day gone wrong.

    The paper's sketch writer filed her piece minutes after Prime Minister's Questions ended.

    Note

    A fixture of British political journalism, usually called the parliamentary sketch and named after the paper that runs it: the Times sketch, the Daily Telegraph sketch. Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality already mentions, in 1901, a writer of the Parliamentary sketch for the Pall Mall and the Westminster Gazette. In Andrew Gimson's Boris (2012), writing the Times sketch is what earns a reputation for wit.

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