What does sketchy mean in slang

See word origin. The sketchy repair job did not look like it would hold. Resembling a comedy sketch, of sketch quality. Having the form of a sketch; presenting only major parts or points; not detailed. Lacking completeness; rough; inadequate. Jack is so sketchy, I think he's stalking me. Roughly or hastily laid out; intended for later refinement. The first draft included a sketchy design. The definition, example, and related terms listed above have been written and compiled by the Slangit team.

We are constantly updating our database with new slang terms, acronyms, and abbreviations. If you would like to suggest a term or an update to an existing one, please let us know! What does sketchy mean? Where did sketchy originate? The word sketch suggests imperfection and a lack of refinement. It comes from the Dutch word schets and ultimately from the Italian verb schizzare , an imitative verb meaning "to splash.

Unsurprisingly, the adjective sketchy originally described something relating to or resembling a sketch, as in "a sketchy portrait. What lacks completeness, clearness, or substance is also subject to doubt or challenge, and sketchy went on to develop uses applying to what is questionable or iffy, either for physically obvious qualities or for something less tangible.

In sports we see this sense of sketchy applied to a track or surface that is poorly maintained, as in "a sketchy track," and in broader use it is applied to streets and neighborhoods that can also be described as seedy , as in "a sketchy part of town. The adjective has more recently extended in use to describe someone who creates an impression of unsavoriness, or something that comes from an untrustworthy source or is itself untrustworthy, as in "a sketchy dude" or "a scheme that sounds sketchy.

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sketchy. Send us feedback. See more words from the same year. Accessed 26 Oct.

More Definitions for sketchy. See the full definition for sketchy in the English Language Learners Dictionary. Nglish: Translation of sketchy for Spanish Speakers. Britannica English: Translation of sketchy for Arabic Speakers. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

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