adj. 1
Intelligent.
My nephew is a sharp lad; he can count to 100 in six languages, and he's only five years old.
adj. 2
Having a strong acrid or acidic taste.
This grapefruit is especially sharp.
adj. 3
Offensive, critical, or acrimonious; stern or harsh.
When the two rivals met, first there were sharp words, and then a fight broke out.
adv. 1
In a sharp manner: a less usual alternative to sharply in certain senses. To a point or edge.

Related words

Word family: sharp-cornered sharp-elbowed sharpling sharply sharpness sharp-set sharp-sighted sharp-sightedness
Phrases: look sharp card sharp sharp cedar sharp cookie sharp practice sharp s

Choose the right word

Sharp, Sour, Bitter, Caustic, Cutting or Biting?

We say a sour face, sharp words, bitter complaints, caustic wit, cutting irony, biting sarcasm, a stinging taunt, harsh judgment, a tart reply.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

3 letters: hot¹, sly¹
4 letters: high¹, hard¹, fine¹, keen¹, sore¹, sour²
5 letters: ready², clear¹, quick¹, smart¹, rough¹, alert², nasty², harsh¹, cruel², acute², steep¹, spicy², crisp¹, witty²
6 letters: strong¹, bright¹, severe², sudden², clever², bitter², fierce¹, biting², coarse¹, abrupt², astute², shrewd¹, jagged², artful²
7 letters: cutting², violent³, pointed², intense², painful², sharply², cunning², acutely³, caustic², pungent², piquant²
8 letters: distinct², piercing², poignant², stinging², incisive³
9 letters: brilliant², precisely³, sarcastic³, ingenious³, satirical⁴, attentive³, sharpened², observant³, trenchant²
11 letters: intelligent⁴, penetrating⁴, distressing³, precipitous⁴, acrimonious⁵
12 letters: excruciating⁵

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (sour² = 2 syllables).