sharp as a tack
adj1
Colloquial Very intelligent.
- When Mum died at ninety she was still as sharp as a tack. Everything else wore out.1999, Tina Koch et al., Still Me, Wakefield Press, page 148:
- But Ophelia was smart. Sharp as a tack. Everybody in the firm knew it.2005, David E. Talbert, Love on the Dotted Line, page 12:
1 more example
- Dr. Anthony Fauci, national infectious disease guru, is five months my senior, sharp as a tack even under withering political fire;2021 May 17, Jane E. Brody, “A Birthday Milestone: Turning 80!”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
- Related terms
- not the sharpest tool in the box