sharpen
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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sharpens,
present (3rd person singular)
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sharpened,
past participle, past
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sharpening
present participle
verb
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to make or become sharp or sharper
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Usual US and Canadian word: sharp. music to raise the pitch of (a note), esp by one chromatic semitone
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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sharpenernoun
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resharpenverb
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presharpenverb (used with object)
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unsharpenedadjective
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unsharpeningadjective
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well-sharpenedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sharpensimple
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sharpenssimple
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have sharpenedperfect
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has sharpenedperfect
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am sharpeningprogressive
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are sharpeningprogressive
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is sharpeningprogressive
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have been sharpeningperfect progressive
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has been sharpeningperfect progressive
Past
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sharpenedsimple
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had sharpenedperfect
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was sharpeningprogressive
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were sharpeningprogressive
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had been sharpeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sharpen
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at sharp, -en 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"I've brought over the man who repairs bicycles in Wolvercote, people who repair sewing, people who do computers, who sharpen knives."
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Only months after the attacks, Spike Lee took on 9/11 with a boldness that only 15 years of provocative filmmaking — and a lifetime of loving New York — could sharpen into an artist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
If crooks have access to some of an individual’s personal information, that’s another way to sharpen the hook.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 5, 2026
Alibaba 9988 -8.62%decrease; red down pointing triangle is aiming to raise $10.2 billion to invest in it artificial-intelligence buildout, looking to sharpen its edge as competition heats up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
He glared at me and went to sharpen his pencil.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
“It’s the epitome of iron sharpens iron,” Adams said when asked about McDuffie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
That contrast sharpens Rotterdam's concern about losing energy intensive industry to regions with looser rules and cheaper power.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
Nvidia’s newly announced Halos for Robotics safety stack sharpens the point: The company is building the software, compute and safety layer around humanoids, not trying to own the entire machine.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
The salt sharpens the citrus and makes the sweetness feel brighter rather than cloying.
From Salon ● May 28, 2026
Fennel sharpens the sight and is an antidote to some poisons.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
As drills kicked off across Taiwan, reservists in Taipei sharpened their combat training at a high school, using U.S.-supplied rifles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Your appetite has been sharpened by sun, distance and swimming, and what you unwrap tastes less like something that survived the journey than something that has been quietly getting ready for you.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
"Competition in the global automotive market has sharpened noticeably," BMW finance boss Walter Mertl said, adding that the company would let an unspecified number of people go to bring costs down.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
Recent reporting on the Minneapolis Police Department’s response to the surge has sharpened this point.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
But then her little-girl curls flattened out while mine got curlier, and her features sharpened, turning her face beautiful instead of just cute.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
“I think everyone is sharpening their pencils and wondering what is the impact of this going to be,” Brill said of the spike in yields since August.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
The tone over the Falkland Islands dispute has been sharpening in Argentina from well before President Javier Milei's late-night national address on sanctions earlier this week.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
She did this countless times across her decades of unwavering support for the queer community, softening and sharpening her humor according to the severity of whatever topic she waded into.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
The sharpening positions leave them without a clear framework for restarting talks, they said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
An extraordinary vitality possessed them, sharpening their teeth and nails.
From "Night" by Elie Wiesel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
