short list

noun

: a limited list of important items or individuals

especially : a list of candidates for final consideration (as for a position or a prize)

short-list

ˈshȯrt-ˌlist 

transitive verb

Examples of short list in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Our short list shapes up with a 200-hp power cruiser wearing a Lotus badge, a five-cylinder Puch moped, and an eight-cylinder, 1,000cc two-stroke motorcycle. — New Atlas, 6 Nov. 2026

Its gravity is not measured by a relatively short list of maimings and deaths, nor can it be written off as perception unsupported by data. — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 5 Nov. 2026

Here’s what the experts recommend putting on your short list of must-do Friday cleaning tasks. — Heather Bien, The Spruce, 30 Oct. 2026

Sources close to Preckwinkle have suggested members of that coaching tree are on her potential successor short list. — A.d. Quig, Chicago Tribune, 29 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1927, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for short list

• assist
• blacklist
• booklist
• checklist
• consist
• desist
• dismissed
• enlist
• exist
• insist
• oocyst
• persist