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
Ron Estes, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Mar. 2025
Aside from the need for public support for subsidies, the need to change their behavior tends to get short shrift, or is misinterpreted completely.
—Michael Lynch, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025
The need to tap AI to incrementally strengthen existing businesses often is causing incumbents to give short shrift to efforts that could transform their businesses.
—Shahriar Parvarandeh, Harvard Business Review, 3 Mar. 2025
This allows the support team to focus on higher-impact activities without giving short shrift to everyday customer concerns.
—Aytekin Tank, Forbes, 27 Feb. 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 5 May. 2025.
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