Sharp vs Plain - What's the difference?
sharp | plain |
Able to cut easily.
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*:Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.
(lb) Intelligent.
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* {{quote-news, author=(Jesse Jackson), title=In the Ferguson era, Malcolm X’s courage in fighting racism inspires more than ever, work=(The Guardian) (London), date=20 February 2015
, passage=At school, despite his sharp mind, Malcolm was laughed at by teachers when he said he wanted to be a lawyer. }}
Terminating in a point or edge; not obtuse or rounded.
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(lb) Higher than usual by one semitone (denoted by the symbol after the name of the note).
(lb) Higher in pitch than required.
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Having an intense, acrid flavour.''
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Sudden and intense.
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*:She wakened in sharp panic, bewildered by the grotesquerie of some half-remembered dream in contrast with the harshness of inclement fact.
(lb) Illegal or dishonest.
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(lb) Keenly or unduly attentive to one's own interests; shrewd.
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*(Jonathan Swift) (1667–1745)
*:the necessity of being so sharp and exacting
Exact, precise, accurate; keen.
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*{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=
, magazine=(American Scientist), title= Offensive, critical, or acrimonious.
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(lb) Stylish or attractive.
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Observant; alert; acute.
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Forming a small angle; forming an angle of less than ninety degrees.
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*1900 , , (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
Steep; precipitous; abrupt.
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Said of as extreme a value as possible.
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(lb) 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 ohvious and logical way: they go in for sharp play. However, not everyone is a natural attacking player
Piercing; keen; severe; painful.
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*(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
*:Sharp misery had worn him to the bones.
*(William Cowper) (1731-1800)
*:the morning sharp and clear
*(John Keble) (1792-1866)
*:in sharpest perils faithful proved
Eager or keen in pursuit; impatient for gratification.
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(lb) Fierce; ardent; fiery; violent; impetuous.
*(John Milton) (1608-1674)
*:in sharp contest of battle
*(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
*:A sharp assault already is begun.
Composed of hard, angular grains; gritty.
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:(Edward Moxon)
Uttered in a whisper, or with the breath alone; aspirated; unvoiced.
To a point or edge; piercingly; eagerly; sharply.
* Shakespeare
(notcomp) Exactly.
(music) In a higher pitch than is correct or desirable.
(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.
(music) A note that is played a semitone higher than usual; denoted by the name of the note that is followed by the symbol ?.
(music) A note that is sharp in a particular key.
(music) The scale having a particular sharp note as its tonic.
(usually, in the plural) Something that is sharp.
A sharp tool or weapon.
* Collier
(medicine) A hypodermic syringe.
(medicine, dated) A scalpel or other edged instrument used in surgery.
A dishonest person; a cheater.
Part of a stream where the water runs very rapidly.
A sewing needle with a very slender point, more pointed than a blunt or a between.
(in the plural) middlings
(slang, dated) An expert.
A sharpie (member of Australian gangs of the 1960s and 1970s).
* 2006 , Iain McIntyre, Tomorrow Is Today: Australia in the Psychedelic Era, 1966-1970
(music) To raise the pitch of a note half a step making a natural note a sharp.
To play tricks in bargaining; to act the sharper.
* Bible, (w) xl. 4
Simple.
# Ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation; unembellished.
#* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author=(Henry Petroski)
, magazine=(American Scientist), title= # Of just one colour; lacking a pattern.
# Simple in habits or qualities; unsophisticated, not exceptional, ordinary.
#* (Henry Hammond) (1605-1660)
#* (Abraham Lincoln) (1809-1865)
# (label) Having only few ingredients, or no additional ingredients or seasonings; not elaborate, without toppings or extras.
# (label) Containing no extended or nonprinting characters (especially in plain text).
Obvious.
# Evident to one's senses or reason; manifest, clear, unmistakable.
#* 1843 , (Thomas Carlyle), '', book 2, ch. XV, ''Practical — Devotional
# Downright; total, unmistakable (as intensifier).
Open.
# Honest and without deception; candid, open; blunt.
#* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
# Clear; unencumbered; equal; fair.
#* Felton
Not unusually beautiful; unattractive.
(colloquial) Simply
(rare, poetic) A lamentation.
* 1815 , Sir ,
To lament, bewail.
* Bishop Joseph Hall
* ,
An expanse of land with relatively low relief.
* Milton
* 1961 , J. A. Philip. Mimesis in the ''Sophistês'' of Plato . In: Proceedings and Transactions of the American Philological Association 92. p. 467.
A battlefield.
* Shakespeare
(obsolete) A .
(obsolete) To plane or level; to make plain or even on the surface.
* Wither
(obsolete) To make plain or manifest; to explain.
* Shakespeare
As a proper noun sharp
is .As an adjective plain is
.As an adverb plain is
(colloquial) simply.As a noun plain is
(rare|poetic) a lamentation or plain can be an expanse of land with relatively low relief.As a verb plain is
to lament, bewail or plain can be (obsolete|transitive) to plane or level; to make plain or even on the surface.sharp
English
Adjective
(er)citation
Catherine Clabby
Focus on Everything, passage=Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus.
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 * dishonest, dodgy, illegal, illicit, underhand * (accurate) accurate, exact, keen, precise * (critical) acrimonious, bitter, cutting, harsh, hostile, nasty * chic, elegant, smart, stylish * (observant) acute, alert, keen, observant, sharp-eyedAntonyms
* (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 * flat * (having an intense and acrid flavour) bland, insipid, tasteless * (sudden and intense) dull * above-board, honest, legit, legitimate, reputable * (accurate) inaccurate, imprecise * (critical) complimentary, flattering, friendly, kind, nice * inelegant, scruffy, shabby * (observant) unobservantDerived terms
* not the sharpest knife in the drawer * sharpish * sharply * sharp-wittedAdverb
(er)- You bite so sharp at reasons.
- I'll see you at twelve o'clock sharp .
- I didn't enjoy the concert much because the tenor kept going sharp on the high notes.
Synonyms
* (exactly) exactly, on the dot (of time), preciselyNoun
(en noun)- The pitch pipe sounded out a perfect F? (F sharp).
- ''Transposition frequently is harder to read because of all the sharps and flats on the staff.
- The piece was difficult to read after it had been transposed, since in the new key many notes were sharps .
- Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" is written in C? minor (C sharp minor.)
- Place sharps in the specially marked red container for safe disposal.
- If butchers had but the manners to go to sharps , gentlemen would be contented with a rubber at cuffs.
- The casino kept in the break room a set of pictures of known sharps for the bouncers to see.
- (Charles Kingsley)
- The Circle was one of the few dances the older sharps frequented; mostly they were to be found in pubs, pool-halls or at the track.
Derived terms
* card sharp * double sharpSee also
* (music) accidental, flat, natural *Verb
(en verb)- That new musician must be tone deaf: he sharped half the notes of the song!
Anagrams
* harps 1000 English basic wordsplain
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) pleyn, playn, (etyl) plain, plein, from (etyl) .Adjective
(er)- The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain .
The Evolution of Eyeglasses, passage=The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight.}}
- plain yet pious Christians
- the plain people
- In fact, by excommunication or persuasion, by impetuosity of driving or adroitness in leading, , it is now becoming plain everywhere, is a man that generally remains master at last.
- an honest mind, and plain
- Our troops beat an army in plain fight.
Synonyms
* no-frills * normal * ordinary * simple * unadorned * unseasoned * See alsoAntonyms
* bells and whistles * decorative * exotic * fancy * ornateDerived terms
* plain and simple * plain as a pikestaff * plain as the nose on one's face * plain chocolate * plain clothes * plain-dealing * plain film * plain flour * plain-hearted * plain Jane * plain-laid * plain line * plain paper * plain sailing * plain song/plainsong * plain-spoken * plain text * plain-vanilla * plain weave * plain-winged * plainly * plainnessAdverb
(-)- It was just plain stupid.
- I plain forgot.
Etymology 2
From (etyl) plainer, pleiner, variant of (etyl) and (etyl) pleindre, plaindre, from (etyl) plangere, present active infinitive of .Alternative forms
* pleinNoun
(en noun)The Lady of the Isles, Canto IV, part IX
- The warrior-threat, the infant's plain ,
- The mother's screams, were heard in vain;
Verb
(en verb)- to plain a loss
- Thy mother could thee for thy cradle set / Her husband's rusty iron corselet; / Whose jargling sound might rock her babe to rest, / That never plain' d of his uneasy nest.
More Poems, XXV, lines 5-9
- Then came I crying, and to-day,
- With heavier cause to plain ,
- Depart I into death away,
- Not to be born again.
Etymology 3
From (etyl) plain, from (etyl) .Noun
(wikipedia plain) (en noun)- Him the Ammonite / Worshipped in Rabba and her watery plain .
- For Plato the life of the philosopher is a life of struggle towards the goal of knowledge, towards “searching the heavens and measuring the plains , in all places seeking the nature of everything as a whole”
- (Arbuthnot)
- Lead forth my soldiers to the plain .
Synonyms
* flatlands * high plain * plateau * prairie * steppeAntonyms
* cliff * gorge * mountain * valeDerived terms
* abyssal plain * alluvial plain * flood plain/floodplain * gibber plain * Great Plains * peneplain * Plains * plain wanderer * salt plain * the rain in Spain falls mainly in the plainSee also
* grassland * meadowVerb
(en verb)- We would rake Europe rather, plain the East.
- What's dumb in show, I'll plain in speech.