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short

adjective · adverb · noun · verb

Simple meaning

Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

shawrt
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈʃɔɹt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.

  2. primarily spatial sense

    Having little length or lacking in length

  3. Having little duration.

  4. of a person

    Of comparatively small height.

  5. Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.

  6. Abrupt, brief, pointed, curt.

adverb

  1. Abruptly, curtly, briefly.

  2. Unawares.

  3. Without achieving a goal or requirement.

noun

  1. Accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference

  2. A YouTube video that is less than one minute long.

  3. usslang

    An automobile; especially in crack shorts ("to break into automobiles").

  4. A summary account.

  5. A short circuit.

  6. A short film.

verb

  1. transitiveinformal

    To provide with an amount smaller than that agreed or labeled; to shortchange.

  2. transitive

    To cause a short circuit in (something).

  3. intransitiveof an electrical circuit

    To short circuit.

  4. Create a short circuit in

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.

Used this way, short is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Mild
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Having a small distance

short duration

Word

short term

Other combinations

short storyshort distanceshort periodrelatively shortshort historyshort space

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • shortsnounPlural form

    Trousers that end at or above the knee.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • shortnessnounDerived noun

    The property of being of short spatial extent.

  • shortlyadverbDerived adverb

    For a short time.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • short listnounCompound term

    A list of applicants winnowed from a longer list who have been deemed suitable and from which the successful person will be chosen.

  • short loinnounCompound term

    The portion of the loin from which porterhouse steaks are cut.

  • short-orderadjectiveCompound term

    Of or relating to food that can be prepared quickly.

  • short pantsnounCompound term

    Trousers that end at or above the knee.

  • short ribsnounCompound term

    Cut of beef containing rib ends near the sternum.

  • short salenounCompound term

    Sale of securities or commodity futures not owned by the seller (who hopes to buy them back later at a lower price).

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • shortcakenounRelated term

    Very short biscuit dough baked as individual biscuits or a round loaf.

  • shortleaf pinenounRelated term

    Large pine of southern United States having short needles in bunches of 2-3 and red-brown bark when mature.

  • shortleaf yellow pinenounRelated term

    Large pine of southern United States having short needles in bunches of 2-3 and red-brown bark when mature.

  • shortwave diathermy machinenounRelated term

    A diathermy machine that uses short wave radiation as the source of heat.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

adjective

Sense: having a small distance from one end

briefclose

adverb

Sense: abruptly or curtly or briefly

briefArchaic

Antonyms

Sense: having a small distance from one end

long

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.