sketch

[skech]

noun

1. a simply or hastily executed drawing or painting, especially a preliminary one, giving the essential features without the details.

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

   Synonyms: outline

3. a brief or hasty outline of facts, occurrences, etc..

   a sketch of his life.

4. a short, usually descriptive, essay, history, or story.

5. a short play or slight dramatic performance, as one forming part of a vaudeville program.

   Synonyms: routine, act, skit

verb (used with object)

1. to make a sketch of.

   Synonyms: represent, delineate, design, outline, draw

2. to set forth in a brief or general account.

   He sketched his own part in the affair.

3. Metallurgy.,  (in a steel mill or the like) to mark (a piece) for cutting.

verb (used without object)

1. to make a sketch or sketches.

sketch

/ skɛtʃ /

noun

1. a rapid drawing or painting, often a study for subsequent elaboration

2. a brief usually descriptive and informal essay or other literary composition

3. a short play, often comic, forming part of a revue

4. a short evocative piece of instrumental music, esp for piano

5. any brief outline

verb

1. to make a rough drawing (of)

2. to make a brief description of

Other Word Forms

• sketcher noun
• sketchable adjective
• sketchingly adverb
• sketchlike adjective
• resketch verb (used with object)
• unsketched adjective
• well-sketched adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sketch¹

1660–70; < Dutch schets (noun) ≪ Italian schizzo < Latin schedium extemporaneous poem, noun use of neuter of schedius extempore < Greek schédios

Word History and Origins

Origin of sketch¹

C17: from Dutch schets, via Italian from Latin schedius hastily made, from Greek skhedios unprepared

Synonym Study

See depict.

Example Sentences

Matsumoto sketches his main characters in a few quick strokes, content to indicate their ages along with a physical feature, a personality trait, or an aspect of dress.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The Graham company based “En Messe” on a flimsy premise, the discovery of a page or two of sketches that Bernstein made for a proposed score he meant to write for Graham in 1988.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Television sketch parodies, along with op-ed responses about how we normalize addiction, weren’t far behind.

Read more on Salon

The 21-year-old, born in a Paris suburb, may be basketball’s most worldly superstar, spending his free time playing chess, sketching and poring through 1,000-page novels.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

That five-to-six minute sketch leading up the show’s theme music is where “SNL” presents its most timely political bits, making it one of the last widely watched fixtures of late-night programming, including on YouTube.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• account 
• blueprint 
• cartoon 
• chart 
• copy 
• depiction 
• description 
• illustration 
• likeness 
• painting 
• picture 
• piece 
• portrayal 
• summary 
• version 
• vignette 

When To Use

What is a basic definition of sketch?

A sketch is a drawing or painting that is usually made quickly and lacks finer details. Sketch is also used to mean to create a sketch of something. A sketch can also be a short dramatic performance. Sketch has a few other senses as a verb and a noun.Most artists begin with a sketch, or many sketches, before they work on what will be the final product, such as an oil painting. For example, cartoonists will often make a sketch of a new character without colors, shading, or detailed lines so they can get feedback before putting in too much effort. A painter may draw a sketch of landscape with colored pencils so they can figure out the best colors and shades that would go well together.

• Real-life examples: Many artists would be happy to draw a sketch of something for you if you pay them the right price. Police will often create a sketch of a suspect based on a witness’s description of them. You can find many early sketches of famous characters like Mickey Mouse and SpongeBob SquarePants on the internet.



• Used in a sentence: The artist made several sketches of the model before beginning his work on the elaborate portrait. 

In this same sense, sketch is used as a verb to mean to draw a sketch of something.

• Used in a sentence: I sketched a cat in my notebook during the boring lecture. 

A sketch is also a short dramatic performance, especially one that is part of a comedy show. Comedic performances that consist solely of a collection of short, humorous stories are known as sketch comedy.

• Real-life examples: Saturday Night Live, The Kids in the Hall, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, and Sesame Street are television programs that all use sketches.



• Used in a sentence: Chris Farley was in most of my favorite sketches from Saturday Night Live.