as in cheating
to rob by the use of trickery or threats
was shortchanged out of a promotion
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Recent Examples of shortchanging
Something that reflects how Dan Fogelman’s show is no longer behaving like a straightforward postapocalypse story and how this season’s narrative slips and slides through the timeline, increasingly shortchanging the series creator’s innate preference for sincerity.
—
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 16 Mar. 2026
Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office has fined two swanky Beacon Hill restaurants more than $420,000 for shortchanging waiters of a 3% service fee the Boston establishments were charging customers.
—Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 6 Mar. 2026
The county had long been credited by some for its fiscal acumen, while at the same time criticized by others for shortchanging residents on important services.
—Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Jan. 2026
Some rounded prices down to avoid shortchanging shoppers.
—Preston Fore, Fortune, 12 Nov. 2025
Greenblatt’s myth of a Romantic Marlowe almost singlehandedly pushing England into the Renaissance betrays the principles of New Historicism by shortchanging the roles of so many other key players.
—Isaac Butler, The Atlantic, 3 Nov. 2025
Perhaps in an effort to keep a veteran like Myers fresh for when the games count, while also giving Mancini an opportunity to demonstrate his ability to contribute on the penalty kill, the club had Myers shortchanging after defensive-zone draws.
—Thomas Drance, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
The move once again has Trump at odds with Congress’s China hawks, who argue the administration is shortchanging America’s national security interests to make a buck.
—Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, 13 Aug. 2025
The investigation reveals how Kanai skirted the state’s charitable gaming laws for years while shortchanging the hockey families whose interests he was supposed to serve.
—Kenny Jacoby, USA Today, 17 Mar. 2021
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 16 Mar. 2026
Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office has fined two swanky Beacon Hill restaurants more than $420,000 for shortchanging waiters of a 3% service fee the Boston establishments were charging customers.
—Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 6 Mar. 2026
The county had long been credited by some for its fiscal acumen, while at the same time criticized by others for shortchanging residents on important services.
—Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Jan. 2026
Some rounded prices down to avoid shortchanging shoppers.
—Preston Fore, Fortune, 12 Nov. 2025
Greenblatt’s myth of a Romantic Marlowe almost singlehandedly pushing England into the Renaissance betrays the principles of New Historicism by shortchanging the roles of so many other key players.
—Isaac Butler, The Atlantic, 3 Nov. 2025
Perhaps in an effort to keep a veteran like Myers fresh for when the games count, while also giving Mancini an opportunity to demonstrate his ability to contribute on the penalty kill, the club had Myers shortchanging after defensive-zone draws.
—Thomas Drance, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
The move once again has Trump at odds with Congress’s China hawks, who argue the administration is shortchanging America’s national security interests to make a buck.
—Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, 13 Aug. 2025
The investigation reveals how Kanai skirted the state’s charitable gaming laws for years while shortchanging the hockey families whose interests he was supposed to serve.
—Kenny Jacoby, USA Today, 17 Mar. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shortchanging
Verb
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An angler competing in a walleye derby on Saskatchewan’s Montreal Lake was kicked out of the ice-fishing tournament Saturday after being accused of cheating.—
Dac Collins,
Outdoor Life,
26 Mar. 2026
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Last year, a dozen people were charged with using and selling a smog-check cheating device.—
Patt Morrison,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Serve with garlic toasts and lemon wedges for squeezing over if desired.—
Rebecca Firkser,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
25 Mar. 2026
-
Photos and video show the explorers squeezing through jagged crevices deep inside the karsts, using flashlights to guide them further along an otherwise pitch-black maze of rocky burrows.—
Emily Mae Czachor,
CBS News,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Braves players worked on hustling first to third on a soft single to the outfield, or breaking toward home on a dribbler in the infield.—
Chad Bishop,
AJC.com,
20 Mar. 2026
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Meanwhile, McCutchen walked for the fourth straight game and beat out an infield single, hustling hard to first on a squibber down the third base line.—
Evan Grant,
Dallas Morning News,
15 Mar. 2026
Verb
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When not plucking away at a keyboard, Madison teaches yoga and mountain bikes with her two Australian shepherds, Cholla and Poppy, through Missoula's Rattlesnake Wilderness.—
Madison Dapcevich,
Outside,
28 Mar. 2026
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And don’t forget the era of over-plucking—ahem, from the currently trending ‘90s—which resulted in super-thin eyebrows that never really fully grew back.—
Ana Morales,
Vogue,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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To make a profit from their business, American companies sent their manufacturing facilities overseas, screwing American workers by incurring smaller labor costs, therefore profiting rich investors who never had to work for it and used their money to make more money off the American consumer.—
Jay Reddick,
The Orlando Sentinel,
10 Mar. 2026
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All the setup required was screwing in the legs.—
Noah Kaufman,
Architectural Digest,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The arrangements are not exactly the same as last year, however, as Dylan fans were surprised to hear his band sticking only to acoustic guitars and not electrics during the year’s opening shows.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
24 Mar. 2026
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Big Jay wasn’t as free range, sticking close to the Kansas cheerleaders.—
Kirk Kenney,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates, still stinging from their unexpected Round of 16 Champions Cup elimination midweek, now turn their focus squarely on the MLS season for the next few months until the league breaks for the World Cup.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
21 Mar. 2026
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The institute and federal ocean officials say those appendages, called cerata, hold the stinging cells in a concentrated form, making the slug’s sting especially potent.—
Dante Motley,
Austin American Statesman,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
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After beating Atlanta last Friday without Jaylen Brown and Charlotte on Sunday without Brown and Derrick White, Boston flopped in a rematch with the Hawks, losing 112-102 without a crew of contributors headlined by a resting Jayson Tatum.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
31 Mar. 2026
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Lawson’s Blue Devils relished their March Madness at the downtown arena on Friday night, a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in the corner by Ashlon Jackson to stun storied LSU in a Sweet 16 contest.—
Joe Davidson,
Sacbee.com,
31 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shortchanging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shortchanging. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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