as in incomplete
not complete or clear or having a lot of details
His memory of the incident was sketchy. Details are still sketchy, but there are rumors that next year's model will be completely redesigned.
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Recent Examples of sketchy
The sketchy present, for crying out loud.
—
Francesco Pacifico, The Dial, 9 Dec. 2025
How to stay safe online and offline The best defense is to delete your personal info from every sketchy site.
—Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 5 Dec. 2025
A couple dozen Kumamoto oysters, 20% off, and shipped fresh by the reputable folks at Fulton Street Fish Market (don’t mess around with sketchy online seafood delivery) will bring their subtle creaminess to my festivities this winter.
—Wilder Davies, Bon Appetit Magazine, 1 Dec. 2025
The final scenes, in which Stockmann resolves to reëducate the people on his own, unfold in even more precipitate, sketchy fashion.
—Alex Ross, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sketchy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sketchy
Adjective
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Hurts was incomplete on a last-gasp fourth-and-11 attempt with 43 seconds left that ended their final drive.—
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The Chargers moved the ball to the two and went for it on fourth down, but Justin Herbert's pass hit the turf incomplete.—
Adjective
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Dante’s Divine Comedy almost joined the ranks of the great unfinished poems in literary history.—
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Their second feature is based on an unfinished play by Federico García Lorca and revolves around the interconnected stories of three men across three different eras.—
Adjective
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The championship standard isn’t volleyed about in vague terms.—
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Washington’s presence there, however, gave the delegates confidence to endow the presidency with vague and expansive powers.—
Adjective
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The circumstances of Villegas-Gonzalez's death remain unclear.—
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While past studies have shown that dairy products may have a protective effect against dementia, how specific dairy products affect cognitive health remains unclear.—
Adjective
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Although Jerry Garcia cast the longest shadow across the legend of the Dead with his dark, complexly melodic songs and his hazy, frayed vocals, Weir’s shadow was more translucent, melodically lighter and rhythmically astute.—
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What the new blueprint looks like is still hazy, and there isn’t just one way anymore.—
Cite this Entry
“Sketchy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sketchy. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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