different between ungentle vs sharp

English

Etymology

From un- +? gentle.

Adjective

ungentle (comparative more ungentle, superlative most ungentle)

1. Showing a lack of gentleness, kindness or compassion.

   Synonyms: cruel, harsh, rough, unkind

   • 1551, Ralph Robinson (translator), Utopia by Thomas More, London: Abraham Vele, Book 1,^[1]

     […] Moyses lawe, thoughe it were vngentle and sharpe […] yet it punnyshed thefte by the purse, and not wyth deathe.

   • c. 1597, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1, Act V, Scene 1,^[2]

     You have […] made us doff our easy robes of peace,

     To crush our old limbs in ungentle steel:

   • 1770, Francis Gentleman, The Dramatic Censor, London: J. Bell, Volume 2, p. 110,^[3]

     […] a well-conceived squabble arises, and very ungentle terms ensue:

   • 1848, Anne Brontë, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, London: T. C. Newby, Volume 2, Chapter , p. 253,^[4]

     At length, however, the boisterous pastime terminated—suddenly, as might be expected: the little one was hurt and began to cry; and its ungentle playfellow tossed it into its mother’s lap, bidding her “make all straight.”

   • 1993, Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy, New York: HarperCollins, Chapter 12.16, p. 805,^[5]

     ‘Dagh Sahib, a woman by herself—what place can she find in an ungentle world?’

2. (obsolete) Not acting according to accepted ethics or standards of behaviour.

   Synonyms: base, villainous, wicked

   • 1548, Edward Hall, The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Famelies of Lancastre and Yorke, London: Richard Grafton, King Henry VI, year 15, p. 135,^[6]

     […] this vngentle prince, and forgetfull frend, puttyng in obliuion, bothe the dutie of his obeysaunce, toward his souereigne and liege lorde, and the oth and promise, that he made to kyng Henry, […] turned his backe to his frend and kynsman, and loked to the French part, whiche neuer did hym honor nor profite,

   • 1579, Anthony Munday, The Mirrour of Mutabilitie, London: John Allde, Book 2,^[7]

     What more deceit? then look thy Fréend in face:

     And woork his death, in most vngentle case.

   • c. 1590, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2, Act III, Scene 2,^[8]

     Ungentle queen, to call him gentle Suffolk!

     No more, I say: if thou dost plead for him,

     Thou wilt but add increase unto my wrath.

   • 1629, John Ford, The Lover’s Melancholy, London: H. Seile, Act III, Scene 1, p. 42,^[9]

     I will reward thee:

     But as for him, vngentle Boy, Ile whip

     His falshood with a vengeance.

Derived terms

• ungentleness
• ungently

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English scharp, from Old English s?earp, from Proto-Germanic *skarpaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerb-. Cognate with West Frisian skerp, Low German scharp, Dutch scherp, German scharf, Danish skarp. Compare Irish cearb (“keen; cutting”), Latin acerbus (“tart, bitter”), Tocharian B kärpye (“rough”), Latvian skârbs (“sharp, rough”), Russian ????? (š?erba, “notch”), Polish szczerba (“gap, dent, jag, chip, nick, notch”), Albanian harb (“rudeness”), from *(s)ker- (“to cut”). More at shear.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???p/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /???p/
• Rhymes: -??(?)p

Adjective

sharp (comparative sharper, superlative sharpest)

1. Terminating in a point or edge, especially one that can cut easily; not obtuse or rounded.

2. (colloquial) Intelligent.
3. (music) Higher than usual by one semitone (denoted by the symbol ? after the name of the note).
4. (music) Higher in pitch than required.

5. Having an intense, acrid flavour.

6. Sudden and intense.

   • She wakened in sharp panic, bewildered by the grotesquerie of some half-remembered dream in contrast with the harshness of inclement fact.

7. (colloquial) Illegal or dishonest.

8. (colloquial) Keenly or unduly attentive to one's own interests; shrewd.
9. Exact, precise, accurate; keen.
11. Offensive, critical, or acrimonious.

12. (colloquial) Stylish or attractive.

13. Observant; alert; acute.

14. Forming a small angle; especially, forming an angle of less than ninety degrees.
    • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,

      The street down which Warwick had come intersected Front Street at a sharp angle in front of the old hotel, forming a sort of flatiron block at the junction, known as Liberty Point

15. Steep; precipitous; abrupt.

16. (mathematics, of a statement) Said of as extreme a value as possible.

17. (chess) Tactical; risky.
    • 1963, Max Euwe, Chess Master Vs. Chess Amateur (page xviii)

      Time and time again, the amateur player has lost the opportunity to make the really best move because he felt bound to follow some chess "rule" he had learned, rather than to make the sharp move which was indicated by the position.

    • 1975, Lud?k Pachman, Decisive Games in Chess History (page 64)

      In such situations most chess players choose the obvious and logical way: they go in for sharp play. However, not everyone is a natural attacking player […]

18. Piercing; keen; severe; painful.
19. Eager or keen in pursuit; impatient for gratification.

20. (obsolete) Fierce; ardent; fiery; violent; impetuous.
21. Composed of hard, angular grains; gritty.
22. (phonetics, dated) Uttered in a whisper, or with the breath alone; aspirated; unvoiced.
23. (obsolete) Hungry.
    • 1782, Frances Burney, Cecilia, II.iii.1:

      “[W]hy this last week we ha'n't had nothing at all but some dry musty red herrings; so you may think, Miss, we're kept pretty sharp!”

Synonyms

• (able to cut easily): keen, razor, razor-sharp
• (intelligent): brainy, bright, intelligent, keen, smart, witty
• (able to pierce easily): pointed
• (having an intense and acrid flavour): acrid, pungent
• (sudden and intense): abrupt, acute, stabbing
• (illegal, dishonest): dishonest, dodgy, illegal, illicit, underhand
• (accurate): accurate, exact, keen, precise
• (critical): acrimonious, bitter, cutting, harsh, hostile, nasty
• (stylish, attractive): chic, elegant, smart, stylish
• (observant): acute, alert, keen, observant, sharp-eyed

Antonyms

• (able to cut easily): blunt, dull
• (intelligent): dim, dim-witted, slow, slow-witted, thick
• (able to pierce easily): blunt
• (higher than usual by one semitone): flat
• (music: higher in pitch than required): flat
• (having an intense and acrid flavour): bland, insipid, tasteless
• (sudden and intense): dull
• (illegal, dishonest): above-board, honest, legit, legitimate, reputable
• (accurate): inaccurate, imprecise
• (critical): complimentary, flattering, friendly, kind, nice
• (stylish, attractive): inelegant, scruffy, shabby
• (observant): unobservant

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

sharp (comparative sharper, superlative sharpest)

1. To a point or edge; piercingly; eagerly; sharply.
   • 1853, Matthew Arnold, Sohrab and Rustum

     The iron plates rang sharp, but turn'd the spear
2. (not comparable) Exactly.

3. (music) In a higher pitch than is correct or desirable.

Synonyms

• (exactly): exactly, on the dot (of time), precisely; see also Thesaurus:exactly

Translations

Noun

sharp (plural sharps)

1. (music) The symbol ?, placed after the name of a note in the key signature or before a note on the staff to indicate that the note is to be played a semitone higher.

2. (music) A note that is played a semitone higher than usual; denoted by the name of the note that is followed by the symbol ?.
3. (music) A note that is sharp in a particular key.

4. (music) The scale having a particular sharp note as its tonic.

5. (usually in the plural) Something that is sharp.
   1. (medicine) A hypodermic syringe.
   2. (medicine, dated) A scalpel or other edged instrument used in surgery.
   3. A sharp tool or weapon.
   • c. 1700 Jeremy Collier, On Duelling

     If butchers had but the manners to go to sharps, gentlemen would be contented with a rubber at cuffs.

6. A dishonest person; a cheater.

   This usage is often classified as variant spelling of shark, and unrelated to the 'pointed' or 'cutting' meanings of sharp.

7. Part of a stream where the water runs very rapidly.
   • 1858, Charles Kingsley, "Chalk Stream Studies", in Fraser's Magazine

     here are good fish to be picked out of sharps and stop-holes into the water-tables

8. A sewing needle with a very slender point, more pointed than a blunt or a between.
9. (in the plural) Fine particles of husk mixed with coarse particle of flour of cereals; middlings.
   • 1954, Barbara Comyns, Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead, Dorothy 2010, p. 21:

     While he worked he talked to his ducks, who were waddling about hopefully, as it was almost time for the red bucket to be filled with sharps and potato-peelings.

10. (slang, dated) An expert.
11. A sharpie (member of Australian gangs of the 1960s and 1970s).

Derived terms

• cardsharp, card sharp
• double sharp

Translations

See also

• (music) accidental, flat, natural
• ?

Verb

sharp (third-person singular simple present sharps, present participle sharping, simple past and past participle sharped)

1. (music) To raise the pitch of a note half a step making a natural note a sharp.

2. To play tricks in bargaining; to act the sharper.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To sharpen.

Translations

References

• sharp at OneLook Dictionary Search
• sharp in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Spahr, harps, shrap