sketch 1 of 2

noun

ˈskech How to pronounce sketch (audio)
Definition of sketchnext
1
as in drawing
a picture using lines to represent the chief features of an object or scene made a quick sketch from which she would create a more detailed painting later

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in portrait
a vivid representation in words of someone or something gave her boss quick sketches of the personalities of the clients he was about to meet

Synonyms & Similar Words

sketch

2 of 2

verb

1
as in to trace
to draw or make apparent the outline of sketched the garden pavilion on a pad of paper so the homeowners would have a rough idea of how it was going to look

Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in to describe
to give a representation or account of in words briefly sketched the intent of the reorganization plan

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sketch
Noun
Apple launched Digital Touch to iPhones in 2014, allowing users to send animated sketches, taps and kisses to others. — Greta Cross, USA Today, 24 July 2026 But that's the barest of sketches regarding the long, complicated, litigious, political, tortured road that got us to today. — Adrienne Roberts, Freep.com, 24 July 2026
Verb
Ask people to sketch something, build something with their hands, map something together. — Sally Percy, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026 Palmer’s, on the other hand, appear as if they were sketched on, Gabbriette Bechtel style. — Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 27 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for sketch
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sketch
  1. drawing
  2. portrait
  3. trace
  4. describe
  5. illustration
  6. description
  7. outline
  8. portray
Noun
  • In another conversation, Marcee Gray brought up an online drawing showing Colt alongside the Columbine shooters and Parkland gunman Nikolas Cruz in the style of a Weezer album cover.
    — Isabel Rosales, CNN Money, 2 Aug. 2026
  • The Nazca Lines, ​enormous drawings and ⁠geometric figures etched into desert plains in the south of the country, are one of Peru’s main tourist destinations, attracting approximately ​100,000 annual visitors.
    — Joe Kottke, NBC news, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of drawing
Noun
  • The period-relevant portraits lining the walls, decorative accessories, and the bed with a canopy headboard transported us to another century.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Another billboard shows what appears to be a fighter, wearing a shirt with Khamenei’s portrait on it.
    — Todd Symons, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of portrait
Verb
  • The next year, health authorities linked a cyclospora outbreak in part to Taylor Farms, tracing it back to the same central Mexico facility implicated in this year’s outbreak.
    — Yahya Abou-Ghazala, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Although the movie eventually loses steam (a side effect of its subversions of the genre, while using Ilyas’s awkward outsidership as an aesthetic North Star), Khan traces the care with which his characters try to chart invisible social lines.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of trace
Verb
  • Witness accounts describe chaotic scene In the video, as many as five officers can be seen, and shrieks, screams, and cries are heard.
    — Marvin Hurst, CBS News, 7 Aug. 2026
  • One student has described the moment a fellow pupil ran into their classroom and informed them that a teacher had been shot, during Friday’s deadly shooting.
    — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of describe
Noun
  • In this photo illustration, the logo of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is displayed on a smartphone in front of abstract background on computer screen.
    — Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 4 Aug. 2026
  • There is no better illustration of speechlessness being deployed as a weapon, forcing the loquacious, as if at gunpoint, to fill the void with words.
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of illustration
Noun
  • That self-deprecating description opens Tony, writer-director Matt Johnson’s movie about the one crazy summer that changed a thoughtless young lout’s life; for good measure, the quote does double duty as the tagline on the film’s poster.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 5 Aug. 2026
  • The resulting tab lists all exposed data from the site, along with a description of how it was exposed.
    — Neil J. Rubenking, PC Magazine, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of description
Verb
  • Ludwig outlined his methodology for configuring the 176 Election Day sites, which was done in a way that ensured there were 44 polling places in each commissioner precinct.
    — Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Aug. 2026
  • That's due to a new requirement for digital asset brokers to issue a tax form — Form 1099-DA, Digital Asset Proceeds From Broker Transactions — to investors that outlines gross proceeds from various transactions.
    — Greg Iacurci, CNBC, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of outline
Verb
  • Reuters — Japan’s government is portraying its accelerating military buildup not only as ​a way to protect the country but as a route to greater prosperity, arguing in ‌its latest defence white paper that arms production can support economic growth.
    — Reuters, CNN Money, 4 Aug. 2026
  • The news arrives after the recent release of the blockbuster Michael biopic, which portrayed Jackson as a father with an iron fist and hair-trigger temper who used physical punishment to push his sons to stardom.
    — Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of portray

Browse Nearby Words

skeptics
sketch
sketched
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sketch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sketch. Accessed 9 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on sketch

Nglish: Translation of sketch for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about sketch

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of anecdote

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

How long is a jiffy?
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All