1
as in little
having relatively little height
a lot of boys are shorter than the girls in middle school, but they quickly catch up by high school
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in brief
not lasting for a considerable time
fortunately for those of us in the hot sun, the graduation speech was short and to the point
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in lacking
not coming up to an expected measure or meeting a particular need
regrettably, the art supplies are short this year, so you'll have to share
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in brittle
having a texture that readily breaks into little pieces under pressure
short pastry
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in blunt
being or characterized by direct, brief, and potentially rude speech or manner
I didn't mean to be so short with you by responding to your request with a snippy "I'm busy!"
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in abruptly
with great suddenness
the bicyclist ahead of me unexpectedly pulled up short and I unavoidably plowed into him
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to squeeze
to rob by the use of trickery or threats
charged that the used-car dealer had been shorting customers for years
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in feature
Related Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of short
Matt Grobar, Deadline, 3 Oct. 2025
Accompanied by a bevy of dancers dressed in camo shorts and white T-shirts and her DJ, their commander of the night turned up the heat with her performance, and while initially wearing a short camo jacket.
—Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 28 Sep. 2025
Matt Grobar, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2025
In the span of three short weeks, a rookie quarterback and a rookie running back have revitalized the downtrodden Big Blue with sheer frat-bro energy.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 16 Oct. 2025
Reia Li, AZCentral.com, 15 Oct. 2025
New York finished with a 6-11 record in 2023, and came up short in their attempt to qualify for the playoffs for a second consecutive season.
—Chantz Martin, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2025
Andrew Wagner, Oc Register, 19 Sep. 2025
Using say, Pixar shorts as a reference, most are between 4 and 8 minutes.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for short
Adjective
Henningsen, McNenny, Briseño and Cheung would all reprise roles from the short.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 3 Oct. 2025
Accompanied by a bevy of dancers dressed in camo shorts and white T-shirts and her DJ, their commander of the night turned up the heat with her performance, and while initially wearing a short camo jacket.
—Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 28 Sep. 2025
Adverb
Based on Devantez’s award-winning 2020 short film of the same name, which was a SXSW official selection and won Best Comedy at the HollyShorts Film Festival, Basic follows Gloria (Park) and Nick (Smith), who go through a painful breakup.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2025
In the span of three short weeks, a rookie quarterback and a rookie running back have revitalized the downtrodden Big Blue with sheer frat-bro energy.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 16 Oct. 2025
Verb
Shorted-haired, perpetually cargo-short-wearing Maria Canez has been working for The Arizona Republic since before I was born.
—Reia Li, AZCentral.com, 15 Oct. 2025
New York finished with a 6-11 record in 2023, and came up short in their attempt to qualify for the playoffs for a second consecutive season.
—Chantz Martin, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2025
Noun
Kikuchi started the inning retiring catcher William Contreras on a grounder to short but followed that with Yelich’s single and a walk to Andrew Vaughn before notching the second out when Isaac Collins popped out to first.
—Andrew Wagner, Oc Register, 19 Sep. 2025
Using say, Pixar shorts as a reference, most are between 4 and 8 minutes.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for short
Recent Examples of Synonyms for short
Adjective
-
In fact, little of that story line, Androsoff argues, is backed up by historical evidence.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Geiger said there's little indication that tariff fears will result in any sort of Halloween pullback by consumers.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
19 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Weigert, 56, left Tracker after season 1, and like Sunday’s episode, her absence was also explained within the show during a brief conversation in season 2.—
Angel Saunders,
PEOPLE,
22 Oct. 2025
-
The politically motivated preemption of the late-night program following host Jimmy Kimmel's brief remarks regarding the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk drove a massive wave of Disney+ subscription cancellations, a new report from the research firm Antenna shows, per The New York Times.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Even well into the 1930s, America’s defense machinery was woefully lacking, especially in the critical transport of material and personnel.—
Robert Ross,
Robb Report,
17 Oct. 2025
-
And every year is subject to the quality of the free-agent class, and 2021’s starting pitching market was especially lacking.—
Will Sammon,
New York Times,
10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Grass blades are more fragile and brittle in the cold.—
Lauren David,
Southern Living,
19 Oct. 2025
-
The brittle cornerstone of a decades-old player-development system suddenly crumbled, bringing the rest of the city game down with it.—
Luke Cyphers,
Sportico.com,
17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Dave Roberts was blunt about Shohei Ohtani’s 1-for-18 National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.—
Bill Plunkett,
Oc Register,
16 Oct. 2025
-
Though the doors did not yield, Shapiro has not been able to escape the image – or the thought of the blunt sledgehammer Balmer had intended to strike him with.—
Elizabeth Wolfe,
CNN Money,
14 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
What a lifetime of maquila work looks like Rutilia Cano had worked for the same garment factory for 23 years – until she was abruptly made jobless in February.—
Ladan Anoushfar,
CNN Money,
18 Oct. 2025
-
People broke up or got married, abruptly quit jobs or threw all their money into an obscure start up, moved home to their parents or bought real estate in the city, got political, got tattoos or got in shape.—
Kate Belli,
PEOPLE,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
In a sector already squeezed by rising land prices, material costs, and labor shortages, those weeks of manual quantification represent millions of dollars in overhead that never swing a hammer.—
Jon Stojan,
USA Today,
21 Oct. 2025
-
Made mostly of muscle without a bone in their bodies, these wonderful weirdos can squeeze into spaces scarcely bigger than their eyeballs.—
Kate Siber,
Outside,
21 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
New episodes drop every Wednesday and feature interviews with artists and personalities like Lainey Wilson, Hardy, Charley Crockett, Gavin Adcock, Amanda Shires, Shooter Jennings, Margo Price, Dusty Slay, Lukas Nelson, Ashley Monroe, Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor, and Clever.—
Joseph Hudak,
Rolling Stone,
22 Oct. 2025
-
Creators of websites can implement accessibility features that could help aid the AI models powering the browser.—
Reed Albergotti,
semafor.com,
22 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Short.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/short. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share