foreshorten
verb
Did you know?
Foreshorten first appeared in a 1606 treatise on art by the British writer and artist Henry Peacham: "If I should paint ... an horse with his brest and head looking full in my face, I must of necessity foreshorten him behinde." Peacham's "foreshorten" probably comes from "fore-" (meaning "earlier" or "beforehand") plus "shorten." The addition of "fore-" to verbs was a routine practice in Peacham's day, creating such words as "fore-conclude," "fore-consider," "fore-instruct," and "fore-repent." "Foreshorten," along with words like "foresee" and "foretell," is one of the few "fore-" combinations to still survive.
Examples of foreshorten in a Sentence
San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2023
While the other clones were euthanized for more detailed analysis of their tissues, the scientists kept Dorami around to see if the process that had created her might foreshorten her time on Earth.
—Megan Molteni, STAT, 8 July 2022
However, because crises foreshorten the time horizon of most investors, Kroger’s shares are up more than 10% year to date, beating the market by roughly 25 percentage points.
—Adam Seessel, Fortune, 22 Apr. 2020
Throughout history, plagues and pandemics have flattened human aspirations and foreshortened attention spans from long-term plans to day-by-day survival.
—Steven Litt, cleveland, 12 Apr. 2020
The Golden Gate Bridge is seen from above, its sweeping lines foreshortened.
—Roland Li, SFChronicle.com, 24 Feb. 2020
While the foreshortened sleeping figures in the foreground and even the curving road at right are clearly nods to his brother-in-law, Bellini’s vision is his own.
—Mary Tompkins Lewis, WSJ, 3 Nov. 2018
Instead, Cooper uses a foreign artist’s exotic insight to foreshorten western-movie mythology.
—Armond White, National Review, 26 Jan. 2018
Muscles stretched magically, foreshortened shockingly.
—Jeet Heer, New Republic, 28 Aug. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Foreshorten.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foreshorten. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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foreshorten
verb
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