sharpen
/ˈʃɑɹpən/verb
sharpen is spelled S-H-A-R-P-E-N: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, sharpen means “To make sharp” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in sharpen?
| Letters | 7: S-H-A-R-P-E-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 23,835th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is sharpen?
Sharpen appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sharpen?
- US /ˈʃɑɹpən/
- British /ˈʃɑːpən/
Sharpen has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-sharpen.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sharpen
- sharpens present, singular, he/she/it
- sharpening participle, present
- sharpened participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sharpen mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To make sharp.
to sharpen a pencil or a knife or a musical note
- 2
To become sharp.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sharpen in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to make sharp:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | affiler, affûter, aiguiser |
| German | schärfen, spitzen |
| Portuguese | afiar, apontar |
| Spanish | afilar, tajar, sacarle punta a, hacer/poner más nítido, reseguir |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sharpen come from?
From Middle English scharpenen, scharpnen, equivalent to sharp + -en.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).