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sharp-elbowed. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
sharp-elbowed, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
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English
Pronunciation
Adjective
sharp-elbowed (not generally comparable, comparative more sharp-elbowed, superlative most sharp-elbowed)
- Possessing narrow, bony, rather pointed elbows.
1802, William Wordsworth, The Pedlar:. . . dire faces, figures dire,
Sharp-knee'd, sharp-elbowed, and lean-ankled too
1882, Oliver Wendell Holmes, chapter 1, in The Professor at the Breakfast Table:—Go to the Bible!—said a sharp voice from a sharp-faced, sharp-eyed, sharp-elbowed, strenuous-looking woman in a black dress.
- (idiomatic, informal) Pushy; having a boldly assertive manner intended to establish an advantage.
- 1977 Oct. 24, Michael and Ariane Batterberry, "Party Politics," New York Magazine, p. 81 (Google preview):
- No sooner had President Washington been sworn in, wearing mousy, egalitarian brown broadcloth, than the sharp-elbowed jockeying for social status began.
1990 September 17, Richard Behar, “A Music King's Shattering Fall”, in Time, retrieved 28 June 2015:With his stocky build, spread-collar shirts and locker-room charm, Walter Yetnikoff fit right in among the sharp-elbowed power brokers in the music business.