sketchy

adjective

ˈske-chē 

sketchier; sketchiest

1

: of the nature of a sketch : roughly outlined

2

: wanting in completeness, clearness, or substance : slight, superficial

the details are sketchy

3

: questionable, iffy

got into a sketchy situation

a sketchy character

sketchily

ˈske-chə-lē 

adverb

sketchiness

ˈske-chē-nəs 

noun

Did you know?

The Varied Meanings of Sketchy

A sketch is a rough drawing usually done as an initial draft in contrast to a finished work. The word sketch suggests imperfection and a lack of refinement. It comes from the Dutch word schets and ultimately from the Italian verb schizzare, an imitative verb meaning "to splash."

Unsurprisingly, the adjective sketchy originally described something relating to or resembling a sketch, as in "a sketchy portrait." But because sketches are by nature rough and ill-defined, sketchy soon came to mean "wanting in completeness, clearness, or substance," as in "a sketchy understanding" or "sketchy details."

What lacks completeness, clearness, or substance is also subject to doubt or challenge, and sketchy went on to develop uses applying to what is questionable or iffy, either for physically obvious qualities or for something less tangible. In sports we see this sense of sketchy applied to a track or surface that is poorly maintained, as in "a sketchy track," and in broader use it is applied to streets and neighborhoods that can also be described as seedy, as in "a sketchy part of town."

The adjective has more recently extended in use to describe someone who creates an impression of unsavoriness, or something that comes from an untrustworthy source or is itself untrustworthy, as in "a sketchy dude" or "a scheme that sounds sketchy."

Examples of sketchy in a Sentence

The details about the accident are still a little sketchy.

I have only a sketchy idea of how it works.

Recent Examples on the Web

The film is sketchy on the details of the hit; the crime here is beside the point. —Guy Lodge, Variety, 22 May 2024

Details were sketchy: head-on collision, Mercedes versus another car, a 7-year-old not breathing, a nurse on scene performing CPR. —Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 17 May 2024

The fresh take on the iconic heroes in a half shell created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird leaned into youthful energy in everything from its casting to its sketchy art style. —Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2024

Petsch and Froy Gutierrez star as a couple on a road trip whose car breaks down in an sketchy small town. —Benjamin Vanhoose, Peoplemag, 8 May 2024

The original Let It Be looked grainy and dim because it was shot for TV on 16-mm film, then blown up to 35-mm for theaters, with sketchy sound. —Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 7 May 2024

This is one aspect of her origin story that will likely be familiar to fans, who have over the years gleaned a sketchy timeline of her life, from difficult childhood to ’90s notoriety to a diagnosis of late-stage Lyme disease that sidelined her for years following Le Tigre’s dissolution in 2007. —TIME, 7 May 2024

The report also provided a few sketchy details about the ongoing quest to find what had been lost, revealing that, of the two thousand or so missing or damaged objects, only about three hundred and fifty had so far been recovered—the majority of them with the assistance of Gradel. —Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 6 May 2024

In March 2023, Kelce made his hosting debut on Saturday Night Live, and made a surprise cameo in October on the sketchy comedy show. —Michelle Lee, Peoplemag, 9 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1805, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

sketchy

adjective

ˈskech-ē 

sketchier; sketchiest

1

: of the nature of a sketch : roughly outlined

2

: lacking completeness, clearness, or substance : slight, vague