sharp-elbowed
adj1
Usually Possessing narrow, bony, rather pointed elbows.
- […] dire faces, figures dire, Sharp-knee'd, sharp-elbowed, and lean-ankled too1802, William Wordsworth, The Pedlar:
- —Go to the Bible!—said a sharp voice from a sharp-faced, sharp-eyed, sharp-elbowed, strenuous-looking woman in a black dress.1882, Oliver Wendell Holmes, chapter 1, in The Professor at the Breakfast Table:
2
Figuratively, Informal, Usually Pushy; having a boldly assertive manner intended to establish an advantage.
- sharp-elbowed parents
- No sooner had President Washington been sworn in, wearing mousy, egalitarian brown broadcloth, than the sharp-elbowed jockeying for social status began.1977 October 24, Michael and Ariane Batterberry, “Party Politics”, in New York, page 81:
3 more examples
- 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.1990 September 17, Richard Behar, “A Music King's Shattering Fall”, in Time, retrieved 28 Jun 2015:
- Fifteen documentaries are in sharp-elbowed competition to be among the five Oscar nominees.2014 December 4, Brooks Barnes, Michael Cieply, “Documentaries Jostle Against Oscar Obscurity”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 Jun 2015:
- In this imagined reality, sharp-elbowed parents are handed ‘golden tickets’ for endless support. Meanwhile, we battle for the bare minimum[.]2024 January 7, John Harris, “As councils crumble, a new scapegoat has been found: the parents of disabled and vulnerable children”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
- Related terms
- sharp elbows