in the short run

prep_phrase

"in-the-short-run" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“in the short run” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a prep_phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
16
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Lasting only a short time, shortsightedly.

Corpus desk

Index EN-in-the-short-run · in the short run · English

in the short run · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 16 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "I" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for in the short run
PropertyValue
Headwordin the short run
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechPrep_phrase
Letters16
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “in the short run” in English

in the short runsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

in the short run is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Lasting only a short time, shortsightedly.".

in the short run has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is in the short run, spelled I-N- -T-H-E- -S-H-O-R-T- -R-U-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Lasting only a short time, shortsightedly.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how in the short run appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. In the short run yo-yo dieting will work, but eventually it makes it nearly impossible to lose weight.

Antonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "in the short run"?
"in the short run" is spelled I-N- -T-H-E- -S-H-O-R-T- -R-U-N.
What does "in the short run" mean?
As a prep_phrase, "in the short run" means: Lasting only a short time, shortsightedly.
What language does "in the short run" come from?
"in the short run" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list