shortcoming

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short·com·ing

(shôrt′kŭm′ĭng)

A deficiency; a flaw.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

shortcoming

(ˈʃɔːtˌkʌmɪŋ)

a failing, defect, or deficiency

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

short•com•ing

(ˈʃɔrtˌkʌm ɪŋ)

n.

a failure, defect, or deficiency in conduct, condition, thought, ability, etc.

[1670–80]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

shortcoming - a failing or deficiency; "that interpretation is an unfortunate defect of our lack of information"

defect

disadvantage - the quality of having an inferior or less favorable position

shortcoming

noun failing, fault, weakness, defect, flaw, drawback, imperfection, frailty, foible, weak point His book has its shortcomings.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

shortcoming

noun

1. The condition or fact of being deficient:

defect, deficiency, deficit, inadequacy, insufficiency, lack, paucity, poverty, scantiness, scantness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, shortfall, underage.

2. Something that mars the appearance or causes inadequacy or failure:

blemish, bug, defect, fault, flaw, imperfection.

3. An imperfection of character:

failing, fault, foible, frailty, infirmity, weakness, weak point.

Translations

عَيْبعَيْب، نُقْطَة ضَعْف

chybanedostatekvada

mangel

Unzulänglichkeit Fehler Nachteil

μειονέκτημα

defecto

vika

défaut insuffisance manque privation vice

nedostatak

galli

difetto

欠点

단점

ofullkomlighet

ข้อบกพร่อง

eksiklik kusur

khiếm khuyết

缺点

shortcoming

[ˈʃɔː^rtkʌmɪŋ] n → défaut mshortcrust pastry [ˌʃɔː^rtkrʌstˈpeɪstri] n (British) → pâte f briséeshort cut short-cut, shortcut [ˈʃɔː^rtkʌt] n

(to get somewhere) → raccourci m
I took a short cut → J'ai pris un raccourci.
We took a short cut across the fields
BUT Nous avons coupé à travers champs.

(to achieve something) → moyen m rapide
a short cut to getting sth, a short cut to sth → un moyen rapide d'obtenir qch

(COMPUTING) (= icon) → raccourci m (= keystroke) → raccourci m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

shortcoming

[ˌʃɔːtˈkʌmɪŋ] n → difetto

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

short

(ʃoːt) adjective

1. not long. You look nice with your hair short; Do you think my dress is too short?

2. not tall; smaller than usual. a short man.

3. not lasting long; brief. a short film; in a very short time; I've a very short memory for details.

4. not as much as it should be. When I checked my change, I found it was 20 cents short.

5. (with of) not having enough (money etc). Most of us are short of money these days.

6. (of pastry) made so that it is crisp and crumbles easily.

adverb

1. suddenly; abruptly. He stopped short when he saw me.

2. not as far as intended. The shot fell short.

ˈshortness noun

ˈshortage (-tidʒ) noun

a lack; the state of not having enough. a shortage of water.

ˈshorten verb

to make or become shorter. The dress is too long – we'll have to shorten it.

ˈshortening noun

(especially American) the fat used for making pastry.

ˈshortly adverb

soon. He will be here shortly; Shortly after that, the police arrived.

shorts noun plural

short trousers for men or women.

ˈshortbread noun

a kind of crisp, crumbling biscuit.

ˌshort-ˈchange verb

to cheat (a buyer) by giving him too little change.

short circuit the missing out by an electric current of a part of an electrical circuit (verb ˌshort-ˈcircuit)

ˈshortcoming noun

a fault.

ˈshortcut noun

a quicker way between two places. I'm in a hurry – I'll take a shortcut across the field.

ˈshorthand noun

a method of writing rapidly, using strokes, dots etc to represent sounds.

ˌshort-ˈhanded adjective

having fewer workers than are necessary or usual.

ˈshort-list noun

a list of candidates selected from the total number of applicants for a job etc.

verb

to put on a short-list. We've short-listed three of the twenty applicants.

ˌshort-ˈlived (-ˈlivd) , ((American) -ˈlaivd) adjective

living or lasting only for a short time. short-lived insects; short-lived enthusiasm.

ˌshort-ˈrange adjective

1. not reaching a long distance. short-range missiles.

2. not covering a long time. a short-range weather forecast.

ˌshort-ˈsighted adjective

seeing clearly only things that are near. I don't recognize people at a distance because I'm short-sighted.

ˌshort-ˈsightedly adverb

ˌshort-ˈsightedness noun

ˌshort-ˈtempered adjective

easily made angry. My husband is very short-tempered in the mornings.

ˌshort-ˈterm adjective

1. concerned only with the near future. short-term plans.

2. lasting only a short time. a short-term loan.

by a short head

by a very small amount. to win by a short head.

for short

as an abbreviation. His name is Victor, but we call him Vic for short.

go short

to cause oneself not to have enough of something. Save this carton for tomorrow, or else we'll go short (of milk).

in short

in a few words.

in short supply

not available in sufficient quantity. Fresh vegetables are in short supply.

make short work of

to dispose of very quickly. The children made short work of the ice-cream.

run short

1. (of a supply) to become insufficient. Our money is running short.

2. (with of) not to have enough. We're running short of money.

short and sweet

His reply was short and sweet: `Get out!' he shouted.

short for

an abbreviation of. `Phone' is short for `telephone'; What is `Ltd.' short for?

short of

not as far as or as much as. Our total came to just short of $1,000; We stopped five miles short of London.

shortcoming

→ عَيْب nedostatek mangel Unzulänglichkeit μειονέκτημα defecto vika défaut nedostatak difetto 欠点 단점 tekortkoming mangel wada deficiência, falha недостаток ofullkomlighet ข้อบกพร่อง eksiklik khiếm khuyết 缺点

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

"You're not eating anything," said Marilla sharply, eying her as if it were a serious shortcoming. Anne sighed.

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But, as Uncle Alec's experiment was intended to amuse the young folks, rather than suggest educational improvements for the consideration of the elders, she trusts that these shortcomings will be overlooked by the friends of the Eight Cousins, and she will try to make amends in a second volume, which shall attempt to show The Rose in Bloom.

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As a citizen, I may confess--I confess it freely--I have been guilty of certain shortcomings; yet those shortcomings have been combined with certain virtues.

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AS a preface is the only place where an author can with propriety explain a purpose or apologize for shortcomings, I venture to avail myself of the privilege to make a statement for the benefit of my readers.

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In very many published narratives no little degree of attention is bestowed upon dates; but as the author lost all knowledge of the days of the week, during the occurrence of the scenes herein related, he hopes that the reader will charitably pass over his shortcomings in this particular.

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His mother used to get up in prayer-meeting and tell all her children's shortcomings and ask prayers for them.

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Now that this book is printed, and about to be given to the world, a sense of its shortcomings both in style and contents, weighs very heavily upon me.

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Perhaps it's our strong point, really, the faculty of seeing our own shortcomings; but we overdo it, we comfort ourselves with irony which we always have on the tip of our tongues.

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She could see their shortcomings and defects, which were glaring in her eyes.

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I accordingly engaged a room in the house of a lady of pure French extraction and education, who supplements the shortcomings of an income insufficient to the ever-growing demands of the Parisian system of sense-gratification, by providing food and lodging for a limited number of distinguished strangers.

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As the great day approached, all the tyranny that was in him came to the surface; he seemed to take a vin- dictive pleasure in punishing the least shortcomings. The consequence was, that the smaller boys spent their days in terror and suffering and their nights in plotting revenge.

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They have their own nature; they can of themselves minister to our self-esteem by the demand their qualities make upon our skill and their shortcomings upon our hardiness and endurance.

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