# shorten vs shortest

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### shorten
*verb · IPA /ˈʃɔːtn̩/ · frequency rank #17,718*
To make shorter; to abbreviate.

### shortest
*adjective · IPA /ˈʃɔːtɪst/ · frequency rank #13,609*
superlative form of short: most short; Least in stature, length or height.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shorten-vs-shortest