sketchy

[ skech-ee ]
/ ˈskɛtʃ i /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR sketchy ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, sketch·i·er, sketch·i·est.

like a sketch; giving only outlines or essentials.
imperfect, incomplete, slight, or superficial: a sketchy meal.
Informal.
  1. unreliable or unsafe: That street looks pretty sketchy.
  2. disreputable or shady: I'd stay away from him; he's got a sketchy past.

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Origin of sketchy

First recorded in 1795–1805; sketch + -y1

OTHER WORDS FROM sketchy

sketch·i·ly, adverbsketch·i·ness, noun

Words nearby sketchy

sketch book, the, sketch map, sketchable, sketchbook, sketchpad, sketchy, skete, skeuomorph, skew, skew arch, skew field
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to sketchy

superficial, inadequate, perfunctory, preliminary, insufficient, faulty, cursory, vague, skimpy, coarse, crude, defective, imperfect, introductory, outline, shallow, slight, uncritical, unfinished, scrappy

Example sentences from the Web for sketchy

British Dictionary definitions for sketchy

sketchy
/ (ˈskɛtʃɪ) /

adjective sketchier or sketchiest

characteristic of a sketch; existing only in outline
superficial or slight
informal uncertain or unreliable

Derived forms of sketchy

sketchily, adverbsketchiness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012