short shrift
noun
Did you know?
We’ve got a confession to make, but we’ll keep it brief: while it’s technically possible to make “long shrift” of something, you’re unlikely to find long shrift in our (virtual or actual) pages anytime soon. Short shrift, on the other hand, has been keeping it real—real terse, that is—for centuries. The earliest known use of the phrase comes from William Shakespeare’s play Richard III, in which Lord Hastings, who has been condemned by King Richard to be beheaded, is told by Sir Richard Ratcliffe to “Make a short shrift” as the king “longs to see your head.” Although now archaic, the noun shrift was understood in Shakespeare’s time to refer to the confession or absolution of sins, so “make a short shrift” meant, quite literally, “keep your confession short.” However, since at least the 19th century the phrase has been used figuratively to refer to a small or inadequate amount of time or attention given to something.
Examples of short shrift in a Sentence
Randy Myers, Mercury News, 10 Sep. 2025
Leaders mistake transparency for strength, broadcasting every thought and feeling, and giving short shrift to prosocial qualities like empathy and self-control.
—Aytekin Tank, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
And yet, critics complained that the show was at times giving short shrift to breaking headlines.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 17 Aug. 2025
Civic instruction has also been given short shrift and far too few students have community service opportunities and internships, both are connected to school persistence and performance and need to be a top priority.
—Stanley S. Litow, New York Daily News, 17 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for short shrift
Cite this Entry
“Short shrift.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/short%20shrift. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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