the short term

noun

: a short period of time at the beginning of something

It will meet our needs, at least for the short term.

His plan has advantages over the short term.

—usually used in the phrase in the short term

It won't make any difference in the short term.

These changes may improve profits in the short term, but they are going to cost us money in the long term.

Examples of the short term in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Qatar produces about 20% of the world’s LNG that’s offline at least in the short term. —Jordan Blum, Fortune, 25 Mar. 2026

The unexpected trade off was lives saved from COVID in the short term versus future lives potentially lost to measles, pertussis, polio, RSV, influenza and other preventable diseases. —Literary Hub, 23 Mar. 2026

In the short term, however, California surfing is set to get a big boost on the world stage in 2028, when Los Angeles hosts the Summer Olympics. —Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 23 Mar. 2026

Kirby wrote that some less profitable flights are expected to be cut in the short term because of oil prices, like off-peak and red-eye flights. —Freddie Clayton, NBC news, 21 Mar. 2026

Rhymes for the short term

• disaffirm
• ectoderm
• endoderm
• endosperm
• interfirm
• isotherm
• mesoderm
• periderm
• reaffirm
• affirm
• bookworm
• confirm