sharp as a razor

(as) sharp as a razor

1. Literally, having an extremely sharp point or edge. Be careful picking up those shards of broken glass! They're as sharp as razors. No one but Mommy or Daddy is allowed to use this carving knife, OK Tommy? It's sharp as a razor and could take your whole finger off if you're not careful! Get away from that saw—the blade is sharp as a razor!
2. Very intelligent, witty, and quick-thinking. My grandmother became very physically incapacitated as she grew older, but her mind was as sharp as a razor until the day she died. Of course Ellen is our valedictorian—she's sharp as a razor! Ted's as sharp as a razor, so he'll find a solution to this problem.
See also: razor, sharp
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

sharp as a razor

 
1. very sharp. (*Also: as ~.) The penknife is sharp as a razor. The carving knife will have to be as sharp as a razor to cut through this gristle.
2. and sharp as a tack very sharp-witted or intelligent. (*Also: as ~.) The old man's senile, but his wife is as sharp as a razor. Sue configure things out from even the slightest hint. She's as sharp as a tack.
See also: razor, sharp
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
See also:
References in classic literature ?
Bar's knowledge of that agglomeration of jurymen which is called humanity was as sharp as a razor; yet a razor is not a generally convenient instrument, and Physician's plain bright scalpel, though far less keen, was adaptable to far wider purposes.
A jockey's life is difficult and stormy (with apologies to Rodgers & Hammerstein), and my admiration is for the man from Killarney, with a brain as sharp as a razor and a nerve as cool as the deep waters of Lough Leane, who propelled Best Mate into history on Thursday, March 18, 2004.
THORNTON GATE, sharp as a razor this season, can send soon-to- retire trainer Peter Easterby off with a final big race triumph in the Bic Razor Lanzarote Hurdle at Kempton today.