sketch
Americannoun
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a simply or hastily executed drawing or painting, especially a preliminary one, giving the essential features without the details.
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a rough design, plan, or draft, as of a book.
- Synonyms:
- outline
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a brief or hasty outline of facts, occurrences, etc..
a sketch of his life.
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a short, usually descriptive, essay, history, or story.
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a short play or slight dramatic performance, as one forming part of a vaudeville program.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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a rapid drawing or painting, often a study for subsequent elaboration
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a brief usually descriptive and informal essay or other literary composition
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a short play, often comic, forming part of a revue
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a short evocative piece of instrumental music, esp for piano
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any brief outline
verb
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to make a rough drawing (of)
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to make a brief description of
Usage
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.
- Used in a sentence: I sketched a cat in my notebook during the boring lecture.
- 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.
Related Words
See depict.
Other Word Forms
- resketch verb (used with object)
- sketchable adjective
- sketcher noun
- sketchingly adverb
- sketchlike adjective
- unsketched adjective
- well-sketched adjective
Etymology
Origin of sketch
1660–70; < Dutch schets (noun) ≪ Italian schizzo < Latin schedium extemporaneous poem, noun use of neuter of schedius extempore < Greek schédios
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.
Lorne Michaels would confirm later that it had been a first for the sketch show.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2026
It’s 1998 in Hollywood, and 29-year-old Adora wants a job at a hot comedy sketch show.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
I did one little sketch that was based on the idea of the Mersey washing over the dock.
From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026
Seurat began work on seven canvases, four of which hang together here, along with a drawing and dazzling oil sketch.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026
This map looked more like a first sketch.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
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.
