| English | Russian |
| a person with the sharpest elbows | самый пробивной (Those with the sharpest elbows from every corner of the globe ArcticFox) |
| Be at one's sharpest | Быть на пике активности (LenaTsvet) |
| he isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer | он мышей не ловит |
| not the sharpest knife in the drawer | не блещущий умом ("гаврик" seems to be young or youngish person; a kind of goof-off; maybe not the sharpest knife in the drawer; someone who isn't the most honest fellow you ever met; or someone who is just not serious. -– TMT, M.Berdy) |
| not the sharpest knife in the drawer | не самый сообразительный (He's not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, is he? vogeler) |
| not the sharpest knife in the drawer | звёзд с неба не хватает (she’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she isn’t dishonest. OD Alexander Demidov) |
| sharpest knife in the cabinet | самый умный (sea holly) |
| sharpest pencil in the box | самый умный (sea holly) |
| sharpest tool in a shed | умелый (Banditka) |
| sharpest tool in the shed | самый умный (not the brightest crayon in the box: another term for not the sharpest tool in the shed implying that you are a total dumbass well i guess we are not the brightest crayon in the box Alexander Demidov) |