noun
- A short circuit.
- A short film.
- A short version of a garment in a particular size.
- A shortstop.
- A short seller.
- A short sale.
- A summary account.
- A short sound, syllable, or vowel.
- An integer variable having a smaller range than normal integers; usually two bytes long.
- An automobile; especially in crack shorts, to break into automobiles.
verb
- To cause a short circuit in (something).
- Of an electrical circuit, to short circuit.
- To shortchange.
- To provide with a smaller than agreed or labeled amount.
- To sell something, especially securities, that one does not own at the moment for delivery at a later date in hopes of profiting from a decline in the price; to sell short.
- To shorten.
adjective
- Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.
- (of a person) Of comparatively small height.
- Having little duration.
- (followed by for) Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).
- (of a fielder or fielding position) that is relatively close to the batsman.
- (of a ball) that bounced relatively far from the batsman.
- (of an approach shot or putt) that falls short of the green or the hole.
- (of pastries) Brittle, crumbly, especially due to the use of a large quantity of fat. (See shortbread, shortcake, shortcrust, shortening.)
- Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant.
- Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.
- Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied, especially with money; scantily furnished; lacking.
- Deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard.
- Undiluted; neat.
- Not distant in time; near at hand.
- Being in a financial investment position that is structured to be profitable if the price of the underlying security declines in the future.
Synonyms: abbreviation, short form, low, narrow, shallow, slim, brief, concise, little, petite, pint-sized, titchy
adverb
- Abruptly, curtly, briefly.
- Unawares.
- Without achieving a goal or requirement.
- (of the manner of bounce of a cricket ball) Relatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.
- With a negative ownership position.
preposition
- Deficient in.
- Having a negative position in.
Synonyms: lacking, on, short
Pronunciation
About this word
Short is a 5-meaning word in English. Medium-length words often have several interesting anagrams.
This page shows the definition of short along with every other word you can make from its letters. Click the link above to see all anagrams and shorter words formed from the same set of letters.
How to use this page
Every word in our dictionary has its own page like this one. Here you can:
- Read the definition — see what the word means, how it is used in context, and which part of speech it belongs to.
- Hear the pronunciation — when an audio recording is available, press the play button to hear the word spoken aloud.
- Browse synonyms — see related words that share a similar meaning, useful for expanding your vocabulary.
- Find anagrams — click "Other words from short's letters" to see every word you can spell using the same letters.
Words in word games
If you are playing a word game, knowing whether a word is valid is essential. Short appears in our 370,000-word English dictionary, which includes most words accepted in Scrabble and Words With Friends. However, always check the official word list for the specific game you are playing, as different games use different dictionaries.
Scrabble
In Scrabble, the valid word lists are the Official Tournament and Club Word List (OTCWL/NWL) for North America and the Collins Scrabble Words (CSW) for international play. Our dictionary covers most words in both lists, but some proper nouns, abbreviations, and offensive terms may differ.
Wordle
Wordle uses its own curated word list that is smaller than the full Scrabble dictionary. If Short appears here, it may or may not be a valid Wordle answer — but it is a real English word regardless.
Try it interactively
Open Short in the interactive unscrambler →
More word resources
Explore our guides for more word game help:
Or see all our guides on the blog index.