Sketchy

//ˈskɛt͡ʃi// adj, slang

adj, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Roughly or hastily laid out; intended for later refinement.

    "The first draft included a sketchy design."

  2. 2
    Not thorough or detailed.

    "This is still in the design stage, so details are sketchy."

  3. 3
    Resembling a comedy sketch, of sketch quality.
  4. 4
    Of questionable or doubtful quality. Canada, US, slang

    "The sketchy repair job did not look like it would hold."

  5. 5
    Suspected of taking part in illicit or dishonorable dealings. Canada, US, slang

    "Because he is so sketchy, I always think that he is up to something."

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  1. 6
    Disturbing or unnerving, often in such a way that others may suspect them of intending physical or sexual harm or harassment. Canada, US, slang

    "Jack is so sketchy. I think he's stalking me."

  2. 7
    Disturbing, or indicating possible danger. Australia, slang

    ""We were a bit nervous about it, seeing heaps of surfers out there on the breaks," he said. "There were some nice breaks, but it looked pretty sketchy with the sharks, so yeah, we just tried to stay away from that beach.""

Adjective
  1. 1
    giving only major points; lacking completeness wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
adulteratedarrestedblemishedbookycallowcrude

Example

More examples

"His explanation was too sketchy. I didn't understand it."

Etymology

From sketch + -y. Extension of "brief, imperfect, unfinished" notion.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.