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 termIt 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
The defense for this team also just got objectively worse in the short term thanks to the deal that sent Micah Parsons to the Cowboys for a ton of draft capital and Packers DL Kenny Clark.
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Tyler Everett, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Sep. 2025
The World Gold Council's Gopaul agreed that the current environment was likely to support gold prices at least in the short term.
—Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 3 Sep. 2025
But legislation on the latter isn’t expected to progress in the short term.
—Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2025
And what further troubles insurers is large-scale studies show that GLP-1s don’t lead to medical cost savings, at least not in the short term.
—Joshua P. Cohen, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for the short term
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Tyler Everett, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Sep. 2025
The World Gold Council's Gopaul agreed that the current environment was likely to support gold prices at least in the short term.
—Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 3 Sep. 2025
But legislation on the latter isn’t expected to progress in the short term.
—Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2025
And what further troubles insurers is large-scale studies show that GLP-1s don’t lead to medical cost savings, at least not in the short term.
—Joshua P. Cohen, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for the short term
Cite this Entry
“The short term.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20short%20term. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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