Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Sharper |
SharperNoun1. A person who swindles you by means of deception or fraud. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "sharper" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1350. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Slang in 1811 | SHARPER. A cheat, one that lives by his wits. Sharpers tools; a fool and false dice. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: SharperSynonyms: chiseler (n), chiseller (n), gouger (n), scammer (n), sharpie (n), sharpy (n), swindler (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Thief | Cut purse, pick purse; pickpocket, light-fingered gentry; sharper; card sharper, skittle sharper; thimblerigger; rook, Greek, blackleg, leg, welsher; defaulter; Autolycus, Jeremy Diddler, Robert Macaire, artful dodger, trickster; swell mob, chevalier d'industrie; shoplifter. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Sharper |
| English words defined with "sharper": Chevalier d'industrie, Cogger, Cony-catcher ♦ Gue ♦ Knight of the post ♦ Picaroon, Pickpenny ♦ Ring dropper ♦ sharpen, sharpened, sharpener, Super- ♦ thankless ♦ ungrateful, unthankful. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "sharper": avalanche breakdown, avalanche effect ♦ BUCK BAIL ♦ concave bit ♦ DING BOY ♦ GAMBLER, Greek Trust ♦ HORNET ♦ JACK IN A BOX ♦ MOLD FINISHER ♦ NEEDLE POINT, NEWGATE BIRD, Norwegian cut ♦ Scarification ♦ TAFT. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "sharper": Sharp. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | A lot sharper, Sefton (Stalag 17; writing credit: Donald Bevan; Edmund Trzcinski) How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child (King Lear; writing credit: William Shakespeare) | |
Lyrics | Sharper than knives (Devil Inside; performing artist: INXS) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
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Periodicals |
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High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
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| "More RVers 2" by Loretta Humble Commentary: "This Lady is 85 yrs old, and spryer and sharper than I am. She travels the country in a big RV rig, which she drives herself." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Author | Quotation |
Charles Lamb | Pain is life -- the sharper, the more evidence of life. |
Eden Phillpotts | The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. |
Juvenal | Poverty . . . has no sharper pang than this, that it makes men ridiculous. |
William Shakespeare | How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | The light of the dawn was a little sharper now. |
Walden | Thoreau, Henry David | It would be easy to cut their threads any time with a little sharper blast from the north |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | Competition is becoming sharper with the increasing potential of the RFE’s market for the equipment. (references) | |
Many retailers implemented consolidation measures due to the recent regional economic crisis, and as a result, most have survived the downturn with a sharper focus on business strategies. (references) | ||
It is also planned to establish a Russian-Japanese leasing company to serve the leasing needs of Japanese new and second-hand forestry and wood-working equipment, which will make competition much sharper. (references) | ||
Economic History | Pakistan | However, a sharper increase in exports, helped to reduce the trade deficit to $1.412 billion. (references) |
Netherlands | Deterioration of the fiscal climate due to sharper tax competition among EU Member States is likely to also erode the Dutch competitive environment. (references) | |
Indonesia | Most analysts attribute the decrease in exports to the sharper than expected economic downturns in the U.S. and Japan, Indonesia's top two export markets, as well as to localized supply disturbances in Indonesia. (references) | |
Worker Rights | Spain | In December 2000, the Government amended the immigration law to increase sanctions on employers who hire illegal aliens and to draw a sharper distinction between the rights afforded to legal versus illegal immigrants. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | SCARIFICATION, n. A form of penance practised by the mediaeval pious. The rite was performed, sometimes with a knife, sometimes with a hot iron, but always, says Arsenius Asceticus, acceptably if the penitent spared himself no pain nor harmless disfigurement. Scarification, with other crude penances, has now been superseded by benefaction. The founding of a library or endowment of a university is said to yield to the penitent a sharper and more lasting pain than is conferred by the knife or iron, and is therefore a surer means of grace. There are, however, two grave objections to it as a penitential method: the good that it does and the taint of justice. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Sharper" is generally used as an adjective (comparative) -- approximately 99.04% of the time. "Sharper" is used about 313 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (comparative) | 99.04% | 310 | 16,399 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.64% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Noun (singular) | 0.32% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 313 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "sharper" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Sharper | Last name | 1,000 | 17,997 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
| Country | Name |
| USA | Sharper Image Corporation |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
Expressions using "sharper": card sharper ♦ tricky old sharper. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "sharper": sharper-than-usual, sharper-witted. | |
Ending with "sharper": card-sharper, ever-sharper. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "sharper"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | batakçi (blackguard, blackleg, con man, fiddler, grafter, gyp, humbug, hustler, knave, leg, picaroon, rogue, scaramouch, slicker, trickster, twister, villain). (various references) | |
Arabic | ماكر (artful, crafty, cunning, deceitful, deep, designing, disingenuous, feline, foxlike, foxy, furtive, guileful, malicious, pawky, politic, scheming, slick, slim, sly, smart, subtle, trick, vulpine, wily), نصاب (deceitful, spotter), المحتال (artist, bluffer, cheat, crook, dodger, impostor, juggler, kite, knave, queue jumper, rook, shark, skin, swindler), النصاب (impostor, shark, skin, swindler), الغشاش (cheat, swindler). (various references) | |
Chinese | 比较锋利. (various references) | |
Czech | podvodník (cheat, con man, confidence trickster, conman, crook, deceiver, dodger, fake, fiddler, fraud, impostor, juggler, phoney, phony, racketeer, rascal, runner, shark, swindler, trickster). (various references) | |
Danish | afrundingerne i henholdsvis konvekse og konkave vertikalkurver samt kurveradierne kan ved underordnede mindre trafikerede adgangsveje reduceres i forhold til normaltilfaeldet (in the case of little-travelled, minor access roads/service roads, sag/valley/ curves can be sharper than normal, summit/crest/ curves). (various references) | |
Dutch | de stralen van verticale onder-en bovenafrondingen en van horizontale bogen kunnen bij weinig bereden ontsluitingswegen aanmerkelijk kleiner zijn dan normaal is voor wegen van hogere orde (in the case of little-travelled, minor access roads/service roads, sag/valley/ curves can be sharper than normal, summit/crest/ curves). (various references) | |
Farsi | مدادتراش (Sharpener), ادم دغل وکلاهبردار. (various references) | |
French | tricheur, filou, escroc (shark), aigrefin. (various references) | |
German | schacherer (haggler, horse-trader), schärfere, schärfer (keener, sharpener, sharpeners), Bauernfänger. (various references) | |
Greek | πιο κοφτερός, τροχιστήσ (grinder, sharpener, whetter). (various references) | |
Hebrew | רמאי (cheat, cheater, cheating, deceiver, duper, fraudulent, humbug, impostor, mountebank, ringer, rogue, scoundrel, sneaky, swindler, trickster), נוכל (charlatan, crafty, crook, impostor, knave, miscreant, racketeer, rogue, scoundrel, shark, swindrel, trickster). (various references) | |
Hungarian | szélhámos (bilker, cheat, chiseler, con man, confidence man, fake, fiddler, fraud, gouge, gyp, humbug, hustler, impostor, mountebank, phoney, phony, rogue, rooky, shark, swindler, trickster), hamiskártyás (card sharper, cheat, rook), csaló (abuser, bilk, blackleg, bobber, cheat, colubrine, crook, deceitful, double-dealer, fake, faker, fiddler, fraud, fraudulent, gouge, guileful, gyp, humbug, hustler, impostor, jockey, juggler, leg, masquerader, picaroon, piker, rogue, roguish, rook, rooky, shark, skinner, snide, swindler, trickster). (various references) | |
Italian | nelle strade accessorie secondarie a scarso traffico i raccordi verticali e le curve orizzontali possono avere raggi piu ridotti (in the case of little-travelled, minor access roads/service roads, sag/valley/ curves can be sharper than normal, summit/crest/ curves). (various references) | |
Korean | 더 예리한. (various references) | |
Manx | joushag (shrew, termagant), fer cluicagh. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | arpershay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | vigarista (adventurer, bilk, biter, black list, cheat, pettifogger, pettifogging, sharp, slicker, swindler, trickster), trapaceiro (bribetaker, censorious, cheat, corndodger, crook, dodger, duffer, grafter, gyp, hoe-cake, pettifogger, pettifogging, rogue, rook, shammer, shark, sharp, shuffler, slicker, swindler, trickster, tricky), intrujão (crook, juggler, liar, mendacious, rogue, shark, sharp, sklent, swindler, trickster), gatuno (black list, lifter, light-fingered, lurcher, pickpocket, pilferer, prig, prowler, shark, sharp, thief, thievish), escroque (mobster, racketeer, rook, shark, sharp, swindler, trickster), batoteiro (sharp). (various references) | |
Romanian | trişor (rook), mãsluitor (falsifier), hoţoman (blackleg, rascal), escroc (bilk, biter, blackguard, blackleg, carpet bagger, charlatan, cheat, crook, desperado, double-dealer, duffer, faker, fraud, gambler, gamester, gouge, gyp, impostor, jockey, juggler, knave, mountebank, rogue, rook, scab, shark, sharp, snap, swindler), borfaş (prowler, thief). (various references) | |
Russian | шулер (blackleg, bunco-steerer, cardshark, cardsharp, cardsharper, rook, sharpy). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | varalica (charlatan, chouse, crook, double-dealer, fake, fraud, gyp, impostor, jack-in-the-box, mountebank, swindler, trickster, wheeler dealer). (various references) | |
Spanish | fullero (cardsharper, cheat, packer, sharp), estafador (cheat, crook, gyp, hustler, racketeer, shark, sharp, Skinner, swindler, twister). (various references) | |
Swedish | svindlare (defrauder, jackal, swindler, twister), falskspelare (blackleg, cardsharper, cheat, rook), bedragare (bilker, cheat, crook, deceiver, defrauder, double-dealer, fraud, imposter, impostor, juggler, swindler). (various references) | |
Turkish | hilebaz (blackleg, cardsharp, cardsharper, cheat, cheater, deceitful, foul, fraud, fraudulent, gyp, juggler, rook, serpentine, shuffling, trickster), dalavereci (Abraham, guileful, intriguer, intriguing, shyster, swindler, trickster), üçkâğıtçı (blackleg, cheat, chiseler, chiseller, confidence man, confidence trickster, grifter, guileful, humbug, knave, knavish, swindler, trickish, trickster, tricksy, tricky, wangler). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | шахрай (beat, bilker, charlatan, cheat, deceiver, doer, gambler, jockey, knave, phony, picaroon, prick, racketeer, rascal, scalawag, scallawag, scallywag, shark, sharp, swindler), жадібна людина. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | người lừa đảo người cờ bạc gian lận. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Hebrews Chapter 4, Verse 12 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Zwn gar o logoV tou qeou kai energhV kai tomwteroV uper pasan macairan distomon kai diiknoumenoV acri merismou yuchV te kai pneumatoV armwn te kai muelwn kai kritikoV enqumhsewn kai ennoiwn kardiaV |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Vivus est enim Dei sermo et efficax et penetrabilior omni gladio ancipiti et pertingens usque ad divisionem animae ac spiritus conpagum quoque et medullarum et discretor cogitationum et intentionum cordis |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And spedi in worching, and more able to perse than any tweyne eggid swerd, and stretchith forth to the departynge of the soule and of the spirit, and of the ioynturis and merewis, and demere of thouytis, and of intentis and hertis. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | For the worde of god is quycke and myghty in operacion and sharper then eny two edged swearde: and entreth through even vnto the dividynge asonder of the soule and the sprete and of the ioyntes and the mary: and iudgeth the thoughtes and the intentes of the herte: |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | For the word of God is living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | For the word of God is living and full of power, and is sharper than any two-edged sword, cutting through and making a division even of the soul and the spirit, the bones and the muscles, and quick to see the thoughts and purposes of the heart. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Hebrews Chapter 4, Verse 12 |
| Cebuano | Kay ang pulong sa dios buhi ug nagalihok nga gamhanan, labi pang mahait kay sa espada nga duhay sulab, ug modulot ngadto sa gitagboan sa kalag ug espiritu, sa mga lutahan ug sa mga kauyokan, ug motugkad sa mga hunahuna ug katuyoan sa kasingkasing. |
| Croatian | Živa je, uistinu, Rijeè Božja i djelotvorna; oštrija je od svakoga dvosjekla maèa; prodire dotle da dijeli dušu i duh, zglobove i moždinu te prosuðuje nakane i misli srca. |
| Danish | Thi Guds Ord er levende og kraftigt og skarpere end noget tveægget Sværd og trænger igennem, indtil det deler Sjæl og Ånd, Ledemod såvel som Marv, og dømmer over Hjertets Tanker og Råd. |
| Dutch | Want het Woord Gods is levend en krachtig, en scherpsnijdender dan enig tweesnijdend zwaard, en gaat door tot de verdeling der ziel, en des geestes, en der samenvoegselen, en des mergs, en is een oordeler der gedachten en der overleggingen des harten. |
| Finnish | Sillä Jumalan sana on elävä ja voimallinen ja terävämpi kuin mikään kaksiteräinen miekka ja tunkee lävitse, kunnes se erottaa sielun ja hengen, nivelet sekä ytimet, ja on sydämen ajatusten ja aivoitusten tuomitsija; |
| French | Car la parole de Dieu est vivante et efficace, plus tranchante qu`une épée quelconque à deux tranchants, pénétrante jusqu`à partager âme et esprit, jointures et moelles; elle juge les sentiments et les pensées du coeur. |
| German | Denn das Wort Gottes ist lebendig und kräftig und schärfer denn kein zweischneidig Schwert, und dringt durch, bis daß es scheidet Seele und Geist, auch Mark und Bein, und ist ein Richter der Gedanken und Sinne des Herzens. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Perkataan Allah adalah perkataan yang hidup dan kuat; lebih tajam dari pedang bermata dua. Perkataan itu menusuk sampai ke batas antara jiwa dan roh; sampai ke batas antara sendi-sendi dan tulang sumsum, sehingga mengetahui sedalam-dalamnya pikiran dan niat hati manusia. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Karena firman Allah itu hidup dan berkuasa, dan lebih tajam daripada pedang bermata dua, dan makan dalam sehingga menceraikan nyawa dan roh, serta sendi dan sumsum, dan tahu menyelidik segala ingatan dan niat hati. |
| Maori | Ora tonu hoki te kupu a te Atua, mana tonu, koi rawa atu i tetahi hoari matarua, ngoto tonu, a wehea noatia te ngakau me te wairua, nga ponapona me te hinu wheua, a wawae ana ano i nga whakaaro, i nga hihiritanga o te ngakau. |
| Norwegian | For Guds ord er levende og kraftig og skarpere enn noget tveegget sverd og trenger igjennem, inntil det kløver sjel og ånd, ledemot og marg, og dømmer hjertets tanker og råd, |
| Portuguese | Porque a palavra de Deus é viva e eficaz, e mais cortante do que qualquer espada de dois gumes, e penetra até a divisão de alma e espírito, e de juntas e medulas, e é apta para discernir os pensamentos e intenções do coração. |
| Rumanian | Cqci Cuvkntul lui Dumnezeu este viu wi lucrqtor, mai tqietor deckt orice sabie cu douq tqiwuri: pqtrunde pknq acolo cq desparte sufletul wi duhul, kncheieturile wi mqduva, judecq simyirile wi gkndurile inimii. |
| Shuar | Yusa chichame iwiaaku chichamaiti, Imiá kakarmaiti. Puniá mai érea Núniniaiti. Tuma asa shuara Enentáin init Wayá Ashí ni Enentáimmian tura wakeramurin ti paant awajtawai. |
| Swahili | Neno la Mungu ni hai na lina nguvu; ni kali zaidi kuliko upanga wenye makali kuwili. Hukata kabisa mpaka mahali ambapo moyo na roho hukutana, mpaka pale vikutanapo viungo vya mwili na mafuta. Neno hilo huchambua nia na fikira za mioyo ya watu. |
| Swedish | Ty Guds ord är levande och kraftigt och skarpare än något tveeggat svärd, och tränger igenom, så att det åtskiljer själ och ande, märg och ben; och det är en domare över hjärtats uppsåt och tankar. |
| Uma | Apa' Lolita Alata'ala, lolita to tuwu' pai' to mobaraka', meliu kabaka' -na ngkai piho' to baka' ntimalia. Apa' hewa piho' metohu' duu' rata hi pome'umpua' wuku pai' uta' wuku, wae wo'o Lolita Alata'ala metohu' duu' rata hi nono pai' kao' -ta. Lolita Alata'ala mpowile pekiri-ta pai' patuju to hi rala nono-ta. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "sharper": sharpers. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "sharper": cardsharper. (additional references) | |
Words containing "sharper": cardsharpers. (additional references) | |
| |
"Sharper" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Khargpur, sarpler, schwarzer, shamper, sharapour, Sharapov, Sharmpal, sharpay, sharpe, sharped, sharpee, Shar-pei, Sharpik, Sharpo, Sharpour, Sherpao, Sheurpe, Shivpuri, shrader. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "sharper" (pronounced shÄ"rper) |
| 4 | -Ä" r p er | Carper, Harper. |
| 3 | -r p er | torpor. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: harpers. | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-h-p-r-r-s" | |
-1 letter: harper, parers, parser, phrase, rapers, raphes, rasher, rasper, seraph, shaper, sharer, sherpa, sparer. | |
-2 letters: apers, apres, asper, ephas, hares, harps, heaps, hears, parer, pares, parrs, parse, pears, phase, prase, presa, raper, rapes, raphe, rares, raser, reaps, rears, rheas, shape, share, sharp, shear, spare, spear. | |
-3 letters: aper, apes, apse, ares, arse, ears, epha, eras. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-h-p-r-r-s" | |
+1 letter: precrash, rephrase, reshaper, sharpers. | |
+2 letters: hamperers, phratries, preachers, preshrank, purchaser, pyorrheas, rephrased, rephrases, reshapers, serigraph, sharecrop, sharpener, threapers. | |
+3 letters: archpriest, barbershop, ergographs, harpooners, paraphrase, parritches, preharvest, preheaters, purchasers, readership, rephrasing, reproaches, repurchase, serigraphs, serigraphy, sharecrops, sharpeners, supersharp. | |
+4 letters: archesporia, archpriests, arthroscope, arthrospore, barbershops, biographers, cardsharper, carpophores, chairperson, chrysoprase, crapshooter, epigraphers, geographers, granophyres, grasshopper, horseplayer, interparish, orographies, paraphrased, paraphraser, paraphrases, parishioner, partnership, peripherals, periphrases, periphrasis, phrasemaker, praetorship, prefreshman, preharvests, prehearings, prepurchase, prothoraces, prothoraxes, readerships, reproachers, repurchased, repurchases, serigrapher, sonographer, stereograph, straphanger, supercharge, superharden, superheater, trapshooter. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Digital Art 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Names: Frequency 12. Names: Company Usage | 13. Expressions 14. Expressions: Internet 15. Translations: Modern 16. Bible Trace | 17. Derivations 18. Rhymes 19. Anagrams 20. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
