sharp
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
5 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "sharp", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "sharp" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "sharp" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
sharp is anEnglishadj. It means: Terminating in a point or edge, especially one that can cut or pierce easily; not dull, obtuse, or rounded. Pronounced /ʃɑːp/. It ranks #3,136 in English word frequency. Often confused with star and ship.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sharp |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adj |
| IPA | /ʃɑːp/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #3,136 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for sharp is 5 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ʃɑːp/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,136 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 24 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for sharp, with forms such as "hsarp", "sahrp", and "shapr". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "star", "ship", "shop", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English scharp, from Old English sċearp, from Proto-West Germanic *skarp, from Proto-Germanic *skarpaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerb-, from *(s)ker- (“to cut”). Cognate with West Frisian skerp, Low German scherp, scharp, schaarp, Dutch sche… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is sharp, spelled S-H-A-R-P, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1Terminating in a point or edge, especially one that can cut or pierce easily; not dull, obtuse, or rounded.
- 2Intelligent.
- 3Raised by one semitone (denoted by the symbol ♯ after the name of the note).
- 4Higher in pitch than required.
- 5Having a strong acrid or acidic taste.
- 6Sudden, abrupt, intense, rapid.
- 7Illegal or dishonest.
- 8Keenly or unduly attentive to one's own interests; shrewd, verging on dishonest.
- 9Exact, precise, accurate; keen.
- 10Offensive, critical, or acrimonious; stern or harsh.
- 11Stylish, smart or attractive.
- 12Observant; alert; acute.
- 13Quick and alert.
- 14Strongly distinguishing or differentiating; acute.
- 15Forming a small or tight angle; especially, forming an angle of less than ninety degrees.
- 16Steep; precipitous; abrupt.
- 17Said of as extreme a value as possible.
- 18Tactical; risky.
- 19Piercing; keen; severe; painful.
- 20Eager or keen in pursuit; impatient for gratification.
- 21Fierce; ardent; fiery; violent; impetuous.
- 22Composed of hard, angular grains; gritty.
- 23Uttered in a whisper, or with the breath alone; aspirated; unvoiced.
- 24Hungry.
Etymology
From Middle English scharp, from Old English sċearp, from Proto-West Germanic *skarp, from Proto-Germanic *skarpaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerb-, from *(s)ker- (“to cut”). Cognate with West Frisian skerp, Low German scherp, scharp, schaarp, Dutch scherp, German scharf, Danish skarp. Compare Irish cearb (“keen; cutting”), Latin acerbus (“tart, bitter”), Tocharian B kärpye (“rough”), Latvian skârbs (“sharp, rough”), Russian щерба (ščerba, “notch”), Polish szczerba (“gap, dent, jag, chip, nick, notch”), Albanian harb (“rudeness”). More at shear.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hsarp,sahrp,shapr,sharpp,sharrp,shharp,shrap,ssharp
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for sharp
Misspelling Variants of "sharp"
Frequency rank: #3,136 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter S in our English index: