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

Editors’ Picks With his signature sketchy, scribbly lines, Mr. Feiffer sought to bring to a six- or nine-panel format a level of visual simplicity and intellectual sophistication akin to what William Steig and Saul Steinberg had done with their cartoons in The New Yorker. —Andy Webster, New York Times, 21 Jan. 2025

The women try sketchy cash-advance loans and then giving blood, which turns into a messy set piece, executed with as much in-your-face fluid as gross-out classics like There’s Something About Mary or Monty Python’s Mr. Creosote sketch. —Fred Topel, Deadline, 17 Jan. 2025

But, based on initial but still sketchy reports, legal experts doubt that the crash — which did not involve alcohol and happened in broad daylight — would warrant criminal charges involving manslaughter or negligence . —David Ovalle, Miami Herald, 2 Jan. 2025

This is the weakest part of the film, though, because the drama is at once overly sketchy and on-the-nose. —Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 19 Oct. 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