Shärp'ness, n.

n. [A-S. scearpness.] The condition or quality of being sharp; as, (a.) Keenness of edge or point, as of a knife, and the like. (b.) Quickness of perception, as of sight. (c.) Acuteness of intellect; the power of nice discernment; quickness of understanding; ingenuity; as, sharpness of wit or understanding. (d.) Eagerness of desire or pursuit, as of food, and the like. (e.) Pungency; painfulness, as of grief, and the like.

And the best quarrels in the heat are cursed By those that feel their sharpness. Shak.

(f.) Severity of language; satirical sarcasm. “Some did all folly with just sharpness blame.” Dryden. (g.) Keenness; severity; as, the sharpness of the air or weather. (h.) Shrillness, as of sound; especially (Mus.), the elevation of a note by a semitone.