Meanings
plural shortnesses
- uncountableThe property of being short, of being small of stature or brief.
the shortness of a stubby pencil
4 more examples
the patient's shortness of breath
From time to time in both directions the engine was blowing off, so there was no shortness of steam.
1956 October, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 688But on the whole the Southern Region, in view of the relative shortness of so many of its journeys, is to be commended for its provision of refreshment facilities; [...].
1959 March, “Talking of Trains: Fewer meals on wheels?”, in Trains Illustrated, page 121CNN spoke recently with several Conyers residents who said they still have blurry vision, shortness of breath, throat irritation or chronic headaches since the chemical plant fire.
2024 November 24, Chris Boyette, “Investigators release update on BioLab chemical plant fire probe”, in CNN, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2025 - countableThe result or product of being short.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan abrupt discourteous manner
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishsċortnes
- Middle Englishschortnesse
- Englishshortness
From Middle English schortnesse, from Old English sċortnes, sċeortnys, equivalent to short + -ness.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek βραχύτης
- βραχύτης (brakhútēs)The property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
Arabic قِصَر
- قِصَر (qiṣar)The property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
Danish korthed
- korthedThe property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
Esperanto malalteco
- malaltecoThe property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
Estonian lühidus, vähesus
- lühidusThe property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
- vähesusThe property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
Finnish lyhyys, täpäryys
- lyhyysThe property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
- täpäryysThe property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
French exiguïté
- exiguïtéThe property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
German Kürze
- KürzeThe property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
Irish giorracht, giorra
- giorrachtThe property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
- giorraThe property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
Korean 짧음
- 짧음 (jjalbeum)The property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
Persian کوتاهی
- کوتاهی (kutâhi)The property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
Russian кра́ткость
- кра́ткость (krátkostʹ)The property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
Spanish cortedad
- cortedadThe property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
Swedish korthet
- korthetThe property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
Turkish kısalık
- kısalıkThe property of being short, of being small of stature or brief
Cite this entry
shortness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shortness
“shortness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shortness. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shortness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shortness.
Source: shortness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.