sharp-elbowed

English

Pronunciation

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Adjective

sharp-elbowed (not generally comparable, comparative more sharp-elbowed, superlative most sharp-elbowed)

1. 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.

2. (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.

   • 2014 December 4, Brooks Barnes, Michael Cieply, “Documentaries Jostle Against Oscar Obscurity”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 June 2015:

     Fifteen documentaries are in sharp-elbowed competition to be among the five Oscar nominees.

Related terms

• sharp elbows