Unsharp

adj, verb

adj, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To sharpen (an image) by creating a blurred ("unsharp") negative as a mask, and then combining that mask with the original. transitive
Adjective
  1. 1
    Not sharp.; Out of focus; blurry.
  2. 2
    Not sharp.; Dulled or intentionally blunt.

    "an unsharp tool"

Synonyms

All synonyms
abruptbluffbluntblunteddullnonsharp

Etymology

From Middle English *unscharp, from Old English unsċearp, from Proto-West Germanic *unskarp, from Proto-Germanic *unskarpaz, equivalent to un- + sharp. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uunskäärp (“unsharp”), West Frisian ûnskerp (“unsharp”), Dutch onscherp (“unsharp”), German Low German unscharp (“unsharp”), German unscharf (“unsharp”), Danish uskarp (“unsharp”), Swedish oskarp (“unsharp”), Norwegian uskarp (“unsharp”).

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