Meanings
- CanadaUSidiomaticSynonym of in short trousers (“quite young”).
Near-synonym: in diapers
2 more examples
Look, honey, this ain't my first rodeo, OK? I was doing this when you were in short pants.
Dr. Smith said a moment ago that we are scientifically adult but spiritually in short pants.
1948, Albert Craig Baird, Lester Thonssen, Waldo Warder Braden, Owen Peterson, Representative American SpeechesSynonyms: in diapers, in short trousers
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phraseSynonym of in short trousers (“quite young”).
Origin
From an early 20th century practice of reserving short pants only for small children.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
in short pants. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20short%20pants
“in short pants.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20short%20pants. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in short pants,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20short%20pants.
Source: in short pants on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.