What is another word for short?

Across its 23 senses, short has 24 distinct synonyms: little, inadequate, poor, jejune, unretentive, forgetful, light, scant, and others. Each belongs to a specific meaning, listed on this page under the sense it serves.

What is the opposite of short?

The recorded antonyms are long, tall. Opposites are sense-specific too: this page shows which meaning each one is the opposite of, because a word rarely has a single opposite that holds for all of its senses.

Why are the synonyms for short split into groups?

Because short carries 23 recorded senses and each has its own set of substitutes. A single flat list would put words from unrelated meanings side by side with nothing to tell them apart, which is exactly how a writer picks the wrong one. The grouping comes from WordNet's synsets, not from an editorial judgement of ours.

Does this page cover every sense of short?

It covers the 18 senses that carry a synonym, antonym, broader or narrower term. The remaining 5 senses have none recorded, so they are left off a thesaurus page and shown in full on the word page instead.

Where do the synonyms for short come from?

From Princeton University's WordNet, a lexical database maintained by lexicographers since 1985. A synonym here means a word form that shares a synset with this word — a set of forms interchangeable in one recorded context. Nothing on this page is generated by a language model.

Synonyms and antonyms

short

short/ˈʃɔɹt/

adjectiveadverbnounverbCore

short has 24 distinct synonyms spread across 13 of its 23 senses. Each sense below keeps its own list, because a synonym belongs to a meaning and not to a word: swapping one sense's substitute into another sense's sentence is how a thesaurus makes writing worse. Its 2 recorded opposites are long, tall.

24
Distinct synonyms: 2
Antonyms: 18 of 23
Senses with a relation

Counts are distinct word forms across every sense. A synonym that appears under three senses is counted once here and shown three times below, under each sense it belongs to.

short as an adjective

10 of 11 senses carry a relation

1.
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
“a short life”
SynonymsNo synonym recorded for this sense.
Antonymslong
2.
(primarily spatial sense) having little length or lacking in length
“short skirts”
SynonymsNo synonym recorded for this sense.
Antonymslong
3.
low in stature; not tall
“he was short and stocky”
Synonymslittle
Antonymstall
4.
of insufficient quantity to meet a need
“an inadequate income”
Synonymsinadequate poor jejune
5.
(of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range
“a short memory”
Synonymsunretentive forgetful
6.
not holding securities or commodities that one sells in expectation of a fall in prices
“a short sale”
SynonymsNo synonym recorded for this sense.
Antonymslong
7.
of speech sounds or syllables of relatively short duration
“the English vowel sounds in `pat', `pet', `pit', `pot', putt' are short”
SynonymsNo synonym recorded for this sense.
Antonymslong
8.
less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so
“a light pound”
Synonymslight scant
9.
lacking foresight or scope
“a short view of the problem”
Synonymsshortsighted unforesightful myopic
11.
marked by rude or peremptory shortness
“try to cultivate a less brusque manner”
Synonymsbrusque brusk curt

short as an adverb

3 of 7 senses carry a relation

1.
quickly and without warning
“he stopped suddenly”
Synonymsabruptly suddenly dead
6.
at a disadvantage
“I was caught short”
Synonymsunawares
7.
in a curt, abrupt and discourteous manner
“he told me curtly to get on with it”
Synonymscurtly shortly

short as a noun

3 of 3 senses carry a relation

1.
the location on a baseball field where the shortstop is stationed
SynonymsNo synonym recorded for this sense.
Related
Broadertract
2.
accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference
Synonymsshort circuit
Related
Broadercontact
3.
the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed between second and third base
Synonymsshortstop
Related
Broaderposition

short as a verb

2 of 2 senses carry a relation

1.
cheat someone by not returning him enough money
Synonymsshort-change
Related
Broadervictimize
2.
create a short circuit in
Synonymsshort-circuit
Related
Broadermake

5 of the 23 recorded senses carry no synonym, antonym or related term, so they are not shown above. Every sense, with its definition and examples, is on the full entry for short.

Questions about short

What is another word for short?: Across its 23 senses, short has 24 distinct synonyms: little, inadequate, poor, jejune, unretentive, forgetful, light, scant, and others. Each belongs to a specific meaning, listed on this page under the sense it serves.
What is the opposite of short?: The recorded antonyms are long, tall. Opposites are sense-specific too: this page shows which meaning each one is the opposite of, because a word rarely has a single opposite that holds for all of its senses.
Why are the synonyms for short split into groups?: Because short carries 23 recorded senses and each has its own set of substitutes. A single flat list would put words from unrelated meanings side by side with nothing to tell them apart, which is exactly how a writer picks the wrong one. The grouping comes from WordNet's synsets, not from an editorial judgement of ours.
Does this page cover every sense of short?: It covers the 18 senses that carry a synonym, antonym, broader or narrower term. The remaining 5 senses have none recorded, so they are left off a thesaurus page and shown in full on the word page instead.
Where do the synonyms for short come from?: From Princeton University's WordNet, a lexical database maintained by lexicographers since 1985. A synonym here means a word form that shares a synset with this word — a set of forms interchangeable in one recorded context. Nothing on this page is generated by a language model.

Other views of short

Synonyms, antonyms and the broader and narrower relations for short come from Princeton University’s WordNet. Full sources and licences.

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