Meanings
- Except; but; without resorting to; up to the point of.
He tried everything short of lending her the money himself.
3 more examples
Short of a miracle, nothing/little short of kneeling before your boss will do.
"Short of shooting us all in cold blood how's that going to help you, Mr. Carrados?" asked Larch, coming down to the commonplace of the situation. "It looks like stalemate to me […]"
1934, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], The Bravo of LondonWe'll give them every support, short of help. (laugh track)
1986 January 23, Antony Jay, Jonathan Lynn, “The Smoke Screen”, in Yes, Prime Minister, season 1, episode 3, spoken by Richard Wharton (Donald Pickering) - Less than.
An Olympic athlete cannot perform at any level short of world-class.
1 more example
By Sunday night, police said only one remained in a life-threatening condition: a railway staff member who tried to stop the attack. Police called his actions “nothing short of heroic”.
2025 November 3, Alex Kozul-Wright and News Agencies, “UK train stabbing attack – how it unfolded and what we know now”, in Aljazeera
Synonyms & antonyms
phraseInsufficiently equipped with.
Translations
French à court de
- à court deinsufficiently equipped with
German knapp mit, Mangel an (haben)
- knapp mitinsufficiently equipped with
- Mangel an (haben)insufficiently equipped with
Hungarian szűkében van, szűkölködik
- szűkében vaninsufficiently equipped with
- szűkölködikinsufficiently equipped with
- hiányt szenvedinsufficiently equipped with
Scottish Gaelic gann de
- gann deinsufficiently equipped with
Cite this entry
short of. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/short%20of
“short of.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/short%20of. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “short of,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/short%20of.
Source: short of on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.