Meanings
- informalnot comparableSomewhat sharp (sudden, abrupt).
The car made a sharpish turn.
1 more example
On straights speed would quicken to what was apparently the maximum allowed on this stretch, 140 k.p.h., or 87.5 m.p.h., and then one would see the track disappearing ahead round a sharpish curve, for there are some of 35 and 40 chains' radius on this side of the summit as well.
1960 March, G. Freeman Allen, “Europe's most luxurious express - the "Settebello"”, in Trains Illustrated, page 144 - informalnot comparableSomewhat sharp; not blunt.
a sharpish knife
- informalnot comparableRapidly, soon.
You'd better mend your ways sharpish!
2 more examples
Packed my valise sharpish, afraid the ship might sail back to England with me still aboard; or rather, afraid of my letting this happen.
2004, David Mitchell, “Letters From Zedelghem”, in Cloud Atlas, →ISBN, page 47Catrin: Don’t fuckin’ look at me you perv… He turns back, sharpish. Scott: Sorry.
2010, Gary Owen, Love Steals Us from Loneliness, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →DOI, →ISBN, page 12
Origin
Translations
Irish foghéar
- foghéarnot very sharp but not blunt
Māori koikoi
- koikoinot very sharp but not blunt
Polish cierpkawy, ostrawy
- cierpkawynot very sharp but not blunt
- ostrawynot very sharp but not blunt
Cite this entry
sharpish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sharpish
“sharpish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sharpish. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sharpish,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sharpish.
Source: sharpish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.