different between wise vs sharp

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wa?z/
• Homophones: whys, wyes, Ys, why's
• Rhymes: -a?z

Etymology 1

From Middle English wis, wys, from Old English w?s (“wise”), from Proto-Germanic *w?saz (“wise”), from Proto-Indo-European *weydstos, *weydtos, a participle form of *weyd-.

Cognate with Dutch wijs, German weise, Norwegian and Swedish vis. Compare wit.

Adjective

wise (comparative wiser or more wise, superlative wisest or most wise)

1. Showing good judgement or the benefit of experience.

   "It is a profitable thing, if one is wise, to seem foolish" - Aeschylus

2. (colloquial, ironic, sarcastic) Disrespectful.

3. (colloquial) Aware, informed.

Usage notes

• nouns that often collocate with wise: person, decision, advice, counsel, saying, adage, proverb etc.
• even though wise is an antonym of foolish, it does not mean smart or intelligent, which is also an antonym of foolish.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:wise

Antonyms

• unwise
• foolish

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

wise (third-person singular simple present wises, present participle wising, simple past and past participle wised)

1. To become wise.
2. (ergative, slang) Usually with "up", to inform or learn.

   Mo wised him up about his situation.

   After Mo had a word with him, he wised up.

Etymology 2

From Old English w?se, from Proto-Germanic *w?s?. Cognate with Dutch wijze, German Weise, Norwegian vis, Swedish visa, vis, Italian guisa, Spanish guisa. Compare -wise.

Noun

wise (plural wises)

1. (archaic) Way, manner, method.
   • 1481, William Caxton, The History Reynard the Fox

     In such wise that all the beasts, great and small, came to the court save Reynard the Fox.

   • 1850, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Burden of Nineveh, lines 2-5

     ... the prize

     Dead Greece vouchsafes to living eyes, —

     Her Art for ever in fresh wise

     From hour to hour rejoicing me.

   • 1866, Algernon Swinburne, A Ballad of Life, lines 28-30

     A riven hood was pulled across his eyes;

     The token of him being upon this wise

     Made for a sign of Lust.

   • 1926, J. S. Fletcher, Sea Fog, page 308

     And within a few minutes the rest of us were on our way too, judiciously instructed by Parkapple and the Brighton official, and disposed of in two taxi-cabs, the drivers of which were ordered to convey us to Rottingdean in such wise that each set his load of humanity at different parts of the village and at the same time that the bus was due to arrive at the hotel.

   • 1925-29, Mahadev Desai (translator), M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Part I, chapter xviii^[1]:

     Meantime a serious question came up for discussion. […] The discussion arose somewhat in this wise. The President of the Society was Mr. Hills, proprietor of the Thames Iron Works. He was a puritan. It may be said that the existence of the Society depended practically on his financial assistance. Many members of the Committee were more or less his protégés. Dr. Allinson of vegetarian fame was also a member of the Committee. He was an advocate of the then new birth control movement, and preached its methods among the working classes. Mr. Hills regarded these methods as cutting at the root of morals. He thought that the Vegetarian Society had for its object not only dietetic but also moral reform, and that a man of Dr. Allinson's anti-puritanic views should not be allowed to remain in the Society. A motion was therefore brought for his removal.

Derived terms

• -wise

Etymology 3

From Middle English wisen (“to advise, direct”), from Old English wisian (“to show the way, guide, direct”), from Proto-West Germanic *w?sijan, from Proto-Germanic *w?san?, *w?sijan? (“to show the way, dispense knowledge”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to know”).

Cognate with Dutch wijzen (“to indicate, point out”), German weisen (“to show, indicate”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål vise (“to show”), Norwegian Nynorsk visa (“to show”).

Verb

wise (third-person singular simple present wises, present participle wising, simple past and past participle wised)

1. (dialectal) To instruct.
2. (dialectal) To advise; induce.
3. (dialectal) To show the way, guide.
4. (dialectal) To direct the course of, pilot.
5. (dialectal) To cause to turn.

Middle Dutch

Contraction

wise

1. Contraction of wi se.

Middle English

Noun

wise

1. Alternative form of vice

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *w?s?, *w?saz. Cognate with Dutch wijze, German Weise, Swedish vis, Italian guisa, Spanish guisa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?wi?.se/, [?wi?.ze]

Noun

w?se f

1. way (manner)

Declension

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