short

/ʃɔːt/

//ʃɔːt// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"short" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“short” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #472 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.

#472
frequency rank, English
5
letters
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

short vs sor
60% similar
short vs sot
60% similar
short vs show
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for short
PropertyValue
Headwordshort
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ʃɔːt/
Letters5
Frequency rank#472
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “short” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). short lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for short is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ʃɔːt/. Corpus data places it at rank #472 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 18 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for short, with forms such as "hsort", "shhort", and "shorrt". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sor", "sot", "show", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.? Proto-Germanic *skertaną Proto-Germanic *skurtaz Proto-West Germanic *skurt Old English sċort Middle English schort English short From Middle English schort, short, from Old English sċeort, sċort (“short”), f… The correct English form is short, spelled S-H-O-R-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.
  2. 2
    Of a person, living being, or object, having a comparatively small height.
  3. 3
    Having little duration.
  4. 4
    Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).
  5. 5
    Of a fielder or fielding position, that is relatively close to the batsman.
  6. 6
    Of a ball, bowled so that it bounces relatively far from the batsman.
  7. 7
    Of an approach shot or putt, that falls short of the green or the hole.
  8. 8
    Of betting odds, offering a small return for the money wagered.
  9. 9
    Of pastries or (metallurgy) of materials, brittle, crumbly.
  10. 10
    Abrupt, brief, pointed, curt.
  11. 11
    Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.
  12. 12
    Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied, especially with money; scantily furnished; lacking.
  13. 13
    Deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard.
  14. 14
    Undiluted; neat.
  15. 15
    Not distant in time; near at hand.
  16. 16
    Being in a financial investment position that is structured to be profitable if the price of the underlying security declines in the future.
  17. 17
    Doubtful of, skeptical of.
  18. 18
    Of money, given in the fewest possible notes, i.e. those of the largest denomination.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.? Proto-Germanic *skertaną Proto-Germanic *skurtaz Proto-West Germanic *skurt Old English sċort Middle English schort English short From Middle English schort, short, from Old English sċeort, sċort (“short”), from Proto-West Germanic *skurt, from Proto-Germanic *skurtaz (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-. Doublet of shirt, skirt, and curt. Cognates Cognate with Scots short, schort (“short”), French court, Dutch kort, German kurz, Old High German scurz (“short”) (whence Middle High German schurz), Old Norse skorta (“to lack”) (whence Danish skorte), Albanian shkurt (“short, brief”), Latin curtus (“shortened, incomplete”) and Proto-Slavic *kortъkъ. See more at shirt.

Synonyms

lowscrimpshortshortsomestubbedstubbystumpyvertically challenged

Antonyms

longtall

This word in other languages

corto(Español)court(Français)kurz(Deutsch)curto(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: hsort,shhort,shorrt,shortt,shotr,shrot,sohrt,sshort

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of short - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

hsort2shhort1shorrt1shortt1shotr2shrot2sohrt2sshort1
Edit distance from "short"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "short"?
"short" is spelled S-H-O-R-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ʃɔːt/.
What does "short" mean?
As an adjective, "short" means: Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.
What words are commonly confused with "short"?
"short" is commonly confused with "sor", "sot", "show". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "short"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "short" is /ʃɔːt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "short"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.? Proto-Germanic *skertaną Proto-Germanic *skurtaz Proto-West Germanic *skurt Old English sċort Middle English schort English short From Middle English schort, short, from Old English sċeort, sċort (“... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Using “short”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-H-O-R-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ʃɔːt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “sor” - see the side-by-side comparison. short vs sor
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list