# short

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ʃɔːt/ · frequency rank #472

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

## Easily confused with
- **sor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-sor)
- **sot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-sot)
- **show** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-show)
- **shot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-shot)
- **sort** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-sort)
- **spot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-spot)
- **shut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-shut)
- **soft** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-soft)
- **slot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-slot)
- **sore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-sore)
- **Shri** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-shri)
- **soot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-soot)
- **sora** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-sora)
- **snot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-snot)
- **swot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-swot)
- **start** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-start)
- **story** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-story)
- **shows** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-shows)
- **store** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-store)
- **shown** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-shown)

## Common misspellings (8)
`hsort`, `shhort`, `shorrt`, `shortt`, `shotr`, `shrot`, `sohrt`, `sshort`

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