sketch
noun
\ ˈskech
\
\
Definition of sketch
(Entry 1 of 2)
1a
: a rough drawing representing the chief features of an object or scene and often made as a preliminary study
b
: a tentative draft (as for a literary work)
2
: a brief description (as of a person) or outline
3a
: a short literary composition somewhat resembling the short story and the essay but intentionally slight in treatment, discursive in style, and familiar in tone
b
: a short instrumental composition usually for piano
c
: a slight theatrical piece having a single scene
especially
: a comic variety act
sketch
verb
sketched;
sketching;
sketches
Definition of sketch (Entry 2 of 2)
: to make a sketch, rough draft, or outline of
: to draw or paint a sketch
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Synonyms for sketch
Synonyms: Noun
Synonyms: Verb
define, delineate, outline, silhouette, trace
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Examples of sketch in a Sentence
Noun
He made a sketch of his house. He wrote up a sketch of the plot. There is a biographical sketch of the author on the book's back cover.Verb
He sketched the trees outside his window. He likes to sit outside and sketch. She sketched the plan for us.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Kiely, a painter, conjures women from art historical sources, studying sketches of artists’ models and self-portraits by women. — BostonGlobe.com, "The Ticket: What’s happening in the local arts world," 30 Aug. 2019 Entering the master bedroom, police discovered a drawing of a bare female backside and a painting of a naked woman, as well as what appeared to be either a sketch or embellished photo of Maxwell. — Bryan Llenas | Fox News, Fox News, "Video from raid on Jeffrey Epstein's Palm Beach mansion showed nude images of young women," 29 Aug. 2019 Allred, a cherubic figure with a brushstroke of strawberry blonde hair, has just finished a brainstorm on the topic of automating Lambda’s admissions; a whiteboard behind him holds a sketch of potential pipelines. — Gregory Barber, WIRED, "Lambda School's For-Profit Plan to Solve Student Debt," 26 Aug. 2019 The plates, cups, bowls, and pitcher use the same shade of ecru, but they’re illustrated with soft blue sketches of grass. — Liz Stinson, Curbed, "Virgil Abloh’s first home goods collection is understated with a twist," 16 Aug. 2019 His pieces range from quick sketches of the down-and-out in Delhi to bitchy reports of literary parties and on-the-go shots of trees, monuments, doorways, and the gorgeously polluted sky. — Karan Mahajan, The New Yorker, "The Delhi Walla’s Visions of a Possibly Vanishing India," 11 Aug. 2019 For now, check out the concept sketch of the massive addition above. — Joey Nolfi, EW.com, "Universal Orlando announces new theme park Epic Universe," 1 Aug. 2019 Those chats and the recollections of others offer a sketch of someone talented and troubled, grappling with what friends and her own posts indicate was an especially bumpy crossroads in her life. — Author: Gene Johnson, Frank Bajak, Anchorage Daily News, "Accused Capital One hacker barely bothered to hide," 1 Aug. 2019 Dory recruits her boyfriend Drew and her best friends Portia and Elliott to her quest, and all five characters become very specific sketches of a particular type of 20-something ridiculousness. — Emily Todd Vanderwerff, Vox, "Search Party does everything Big Little Lies did but better and with laughs," 26 July 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Authorities have allowed Little to sketch portraits of his victims and released dozens of the drawings to the media. — Kevin Grasha, Cincinnati.com, "Serial killer who claims 93 victims expected to plead in 2 Cincinnati cases," 21 Aug. 2019 Schools Richard Lugar, then mayor of Indianapolis and one of the driving forces behind the merger effort, had formed the Mayor’s Task Force on Improved Governmental Structure to sketch out what Unigov might look like. — Peter Krouse, cleveland.com, "Achieving “Unigov” required political compromises in Indianapolis: Cleveland 2030, A Way Forward," 10 July 2019 Add to that the fact that nearly 40 percent of first-time, full-time freshman attend institutions less than 50 miles from home, and these statistics begin to sketch the outlines of a crisis. — Adam Harris, The Atlantic, "The Education Deserts of Rural America," 1 July 2019 Caruso says he has long been inspired by Williams’s work (and his story: An African-American, Williams learned to sketch upside down because some of his clients refused to sit next to him). — Candace Jackson, Town & Country, "The Rosewood Miramar Beach Is Montecito's Newest Luxury Hotel—and Private Club For Those Who Want the Real Perks," 27 Apr. 2019 The spouses spent most of one year researching and developing the product, sketching out designs and searching for the right materials to create a prototype. — Sarah Min, CBS News, "Family entrepreneurs turn kids' head injuries into business opportunity," 10 July 2019 Von Braun has the moon car all sketched up, and GM's Defense Research Laboratories is about to start working on it. — Alex Stuckey, Houston Chronicle, "Listen: Experts look ahead to lunar buggies," 12 June 2019 Usually her releases are accompanied by illustrations she's drawn—the visual cartoons she's sketched, and then built her songs' narratives from outwardly. — Eve Barlow, GQ, "Courtney Barnett Is Gonna Say Whatever She Wants," 15 Feb. 2018 Now Disney’s art students sketch while holding a lap desk. — Dewayne Bevil, orlandosentinel.com, "Disney World: Return to Rafiki’s Planet Watch includes animation experience," 17 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sketch.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for sketch
sketch
noun
English Language Learners Definition of sketch
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a quick, rough drawing that shows the main features of an object or scene
: a short description of something
: a short, funny performance
sketch
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of sketch (Entry 2 of 2)
: to make a quick, rough drawing of (something)
: to describe (something) briefly
See the full definition for sketch in the English Language Learners Dictionary
sketch
noun
\ ˈskech
\
\
Kids Definition of sketch
(Entry 1 of 2)