Sharply

How to spell sharply

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce sharply

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does sharply mean?

1. adverbIn a sudden, keen, or abrupt manner; to a marked degree.

Sharply in a sentence

• House prices rose sharply over the last quarter.

• The road bends sharply just past the old bridge.

Where does sharply come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word comes from the Old English scearp, meaning 'having a keen cutting edge', which traces back to a Germanic root shared with Dutch scherp and German scharf. By adding the native adverbial suffix -ly, itself from Old English -lice meaning 'in the manner of', English speakers formed an adverb describing actions done in a keen, abrupt, or pointed way. Over the centuries the sense spread from literal cutting edges to figurative ones: a sharply worded letter, a price that rises sharply, or a corner that turns sharply. The spelling is reassuringly regular, simply joining sharp and -ly with no doubling or dropped letters, since sharp already ends in a consonant. Because both halves are plain native English, sharply has kept its straightforward form throughout its history.

How the word is built

• sharp (keen, acute)
• -ly (adverb suffix)