short

  • (r) quickly and without warning
    • he stopped suddenly
    abruptly, dead, suddenly,
  • (a) primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
    • a short life
    • a short flight
    • a short holiday
    • a short story
    • only a few short months
  • (a) (primarily spatial sense) having little length or lacking in length
    • short skirts
    • short hair
    • the board was a foot short
    • a short toss
  • (r) without possessing something at the time it is contractually sold
    • he made his fortune by selling short just before the crash
  • (a) low in stature; not tall
    • he was short and stocky
    • short in stature
    • a short smokestack
    • a little man
    little,
  • (r) clean across
    • the car's axle snapped short
  • (s) not sufficient to meet a need
    • an inadequate income
    • a poor salary
    • money is short
    • on short rations
    • food is in short supply
    • short on experience
    inadequate, poor,
  • (r) at some point or distance before a goal is reached
    • he fell short of our expectations
  • (a) (of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range
    • a short memory
    forgetful, unretentive,
  • (r) so as to interrupt
    • She took him up short before he could continue
  • (r) at a disadvantage
    • I was caught short
    unawares,
  • (a) not holding securities or commodities that one sells in expectation of a fall in prices
    • a short sale
    • short in cotton
  • (a) of speech sounds or syllables of relatively short duration
    • the English vowel sounds in "pat", "pet", "pit", "pot", putt" are short
  • (r) in a curt, abrupt and discourteous manner
    • he told me curtly to get on with it
    • he talked short with everyone
    • he said shortly that he didn't like it
    curtly, shortly,
  • (s) less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so
    • a light pound
    • a scant cup of sugar
    • regularly gives short weight
    scant, light,
  • (s) lacking foresight or scope
    • a short view of the problem
    • shortsighted policies
    • shortsighted critics derided the plan
    • myopic thinking
    shortsighted, unforesightful, myopic,
  • (s) tending to crumble or break into flakes due to a large amount of shortening
    • shortbread is a short crumbly cookie
    • a short flaky pie crust
  • (s) marked by rude or peremptory shortness
    • try to cultivate a less brusque manner
    • a curt reply
    • the salesgirl was very short with him
    brusk, brusque, curt,

Nouns

  • (n) the location on a baseball field where the shortstop is stationed
  • (n) accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference short circuit,
  • (n) the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed between second and third base shortstop,

Verbs

Synonyms

short-change abruptly dead suddenly short circuit shortstop little inadequate poor forgetful unretentive unawares curtly shortly scant light shortsighted unforesightful myopic brusk brusque curt

Antonyms

long tall recollective retentive tenacious

See also

low unmindful forgetful mindless

Words of close approximity

shore shorn
shod shoe shoo shop shot show
shoal shoat shock shoed shoes shogi shoji Shona shook shoot shore shorn shote shout shove showy
short account shortage short and sweet short aria short-beaked short-billed short-billed marsh wren short-bodied short bone shortbread shortbread cookie shortcake short-change short circuit short-circuit shortcoming short covering shortcut short-dated short division short-eared shorten shortened shortener shortening shortfall shortfin mako short gastric artery shortgrass short-grass short-haired shorthand short-handed short-handled shorthand typist short-headed shorthorn short-horned grasshopper short hundredweight shortia Shortia galacifolia short iron shortish short-leaf pine shortleaf pine shortleaf yellow pine short letter short line shortlist short list short-lived shortly shortness shortness of breath short-nosed short order short-order short pants short-range short ribs short-run shorts short sale short saphenous vein Short's aster short selling short shrift shortsighted shortsightedness short sleep short sleeve short-snouted short-spurred short-spurred fragrant orchid short-staffed short-stalked short-staple cotton short-stemmed shortstop short-stop short-stop bath short story short subject short-tailed short-tailed shrew shorttail weasel short temper short-tempered short-term short-term memory short-toed eagle short ton short wave shortwave diathermy machine short whist short-winded short-winged