sketchy

«sketchy» in Mova's school dictionary: Not complete or detailed; giving only the main points — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (sketchy, sketchier, sketchiest)

meaning for a pupil

1) Not complete or detailed; giving only the main points. tree →

2) Drawn or done quickly and roughly, like a sketch. tree →

3) (informal, slang) Seeming a bit dodgy, untrustworthy or unsafe. tree →

sense in the lessons

In school, «sketchy notes» or «a sketchy answer» lack detail, and «my memory is sketchy» means you don't remember well. Among young people «that's sketchy» means it feels shady or unsafe — useful in online safety: a sketchy link or website should not be clicked. In art, a sketchy drawing has quick loose lines.

examples

• My memory of the trip is a bit sketchy. tree →
• The report was too sketchy; add more detail. tree →
• Her drawing was sketchy, just a few quick lines. tree →
• (slang) That website looks sketchy — don't click it. tree →
• (slang) The guy selling cheap phones seemed sketchy. tree →
• We only have sketchy information about the storm. tree →
• (slang) The bridge looked really sketchy, so we didn't cross it. tree →

note

Adjective; comparative «sketchier». The slang sense is very common in the USA, Canada and now the UK. Similar words: dodgy (UK), shady.

In the corpora

• Lily's mum checks that «sketchy_scot» is a real girl in Inverness, and the girls swap drawings by post.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «sketchy» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.