Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

sharpen

/ˈʃɑɹpən/ verb

In Latin: acuō, cuspidō Wiktionary

verb Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about sharpen at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Make sharp or sharper.
sharpen the knives
Make crisp or more crisp and precise.
We had to sharpen our arguments
Become sharp or sharper.
The debate sharpened

Origin

From Middle English scharpenen, scharpnen, equivalent to sharp + -en.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word