What it means
Used as an adjective for anything that feels off, shady, or not worth trusting. A person can be sketch, a deal can be sketch, even a whole place can be sketch if it gives you that little nope alarm in your gut. It’s super common in casual English when you want to flag bad vibes fast without spelling out every reason.
Usage examples
"That guy offering cheap Leafs tickets outside the station is pretty sketch, buddy. Let’s bail and grab a double-double somewhere that’s not cursed."
"That diner on the corner stays open until four in the morning and the lighting is straight up sketch, but the pancakes are unreal."
"I tried that delivery app and the driver kept circling the block. Felt sketch enough that I cancelled and ordered from somewhere else."
"I'm not sending him the deposit through some random link, that whole thing looks sketch."
"We pulled up to the afters, saw the busted gate and two lads arguing in the driveway, and went nah, bit sketch."
Where it comes from
This slang use is a clipped form of sketchy, which has meant shady, suspicious, or not quite right in English for a long time. In casual North American speech, people chopped it down to sketch because it lands faster. Same bad-vibes warning, just leaner and punchier in conversation.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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