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PlainSpell

sketch

/ˈskɛt͡ʃ/verb, noun, adjective

sketch is spelled S-K-E-T-C-H. The wrong spelling people search most is scetch: about 490 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 24 of all searches for the word. Sketch is a verb meaning “To make a brief, basic drawing”.

How many letters and syllables are in sketch?

Letters6: S-K-E-T-C-H
Syllables1
In writing11 times per million words; the 6,674th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched1; the most searched, scetch, about 490 Bing searches a month (all of them)
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How do you spell sketch?

Sketch is spelled S-K-E-T-C-H. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 24 of the searches for sketch in either form.

sketchthe right spelling11,430 searches a month
scetchc in place of k490 searches a month

Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.

How common is sketch?

Sketch appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,674th 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 sketch?

  • US /ˈskɛt͡ʃ/
  • US [ˈskɛt͡ʃ]
  • Australia /ˈsket͡ʃ/

Sketch has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-sketch.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Simplificationalizer-sketch.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with sketch?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as sketch from its last stressed vowel (/ɛtʃ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of sketch

  • sketches present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • sketching participle, present
  • sketched participle, past
  • more sketch comparative
  • most sketch superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does sketch mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To make a brief, basic drawing.

    I usually sketch with a pen rather than a pencil.

  2. 2

    To describe briefly and with very few details.

    He sketched the accident, sticking to the facts as they had happened.

noun

  1. 1

    A rapidly executed freehand drawing that is not intended as a finished work, often consisting of a multitude of overlapping lines.

  2. 2

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

  3. 3

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

    I have to write a character sketch for a novel study.

  4. 4

    A brief musical composition or theme, especially for the piano.

  5. 5

    A brief, light, or informal literary composition, such as an essay or short story.

  6. 6

    informalAn amusing person.

  7. 7

    IrelandslangA lookout; vigilant watch for something.

    to keep sketch

  8. 8

    UKA humorous newspaper article summarizing political events, making heavy use of metaphor, paraphrase and caricature.

adjective

  1. 1

    informalSketchy, shady, questionable.

  2. 2

    informalFascist or with right-wing or neo-Nazi ties; NSBM.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Sketch in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcroquer, esquisser (to make a basic drawing), esquisse (quick freehand drawing), ébauche, étude (rough design or draft), sketch (brief musical, dramatic or literary work etc)
Germanskizzieren (to make a basic drawing), Skizze (quick freehand drawing), Sketch (brief musical, dramatic or literary work etc)
Portugueserascunhar (to make a basic drawing), esboço, rascunho, esquisso (quick freehand drawing), sketch, esquete (brief musical, dramatic or literary work etc)
Spanishesquiciar, bosquejar, esbozar (to make a basic drawing), esquicio, bosquejo, esbozo (quick freehand drawing)

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 sketch come from?

From Dutch schets or German Skizze, from Italian schizzo, from Latin schedium, from Ancient Greek σχέδιος (skhédios, “made suddenly, off-hand”), from σχεδόν (skhedón, “near, nearby”), from ἔχω (ékhō, “to hold”). Compare scheme.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after sketch