Short vs. Tall: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Updated on December 26, 2023
Short refers to a small vertical extent or stature, while tall denotes a large vertical extent or stature.
Key Differences
Short and tall are comparative terms primarily used to describe physical height. Short implies a lesser vertical extent, often perceived as below average height, whereas tall suggests a greater vertical extent, typically above average height. These terms are relative and depend on average measurements within a population or context.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 26, 2023
In contexts beyond physical stature, short and tall can metaphorically describe durations, objects, or concepts. A short time period indicates brevity, while a tall tale refers to an exaggerated or improbable story. Here, short implies insufficiency or conciseness, and tall often denotes exaggeration or prominence.
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Dec 26, 2023
Short and tall also carry connotations in social and psychological contexts. Being short might be associated with being overlooked or underestimated, whereas being tall could imply dominance or visibility. These perceptions vary across cultures and are influenced by societal norms and personal biases.
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Dec 26, 2023
In the animal and plant kingdoms, short and tall are used to describe relative sizes and growth patterns. A short plant or animal is one with limited vertical growth, while a tall one exhibits significant vertical growth. This usage highlights the diversity in nature and adaptations to different environments.
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Dec 26, 2023
Finally, in architecture and geography, short and tall describe the height of structures or natural formations. A short building is one with few floors, whereas a tall skyscraper stands out in a cityscape. Similarly, a short hill is easily climbable, while a tall mountain poses a significant challenge.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 26, 2023
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Comparison Chart
Usage in Context
"He is shorter than his brother."
"She is taller than her sister."
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Dec 26, 2023
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Cultural Connotations
Often seen as disadvantageous
Often perceived as advantageous
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Dec 26, 2023
Short and Tall Definitions
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Tall
Having considerable height, especially in relation to width; lofty
Tall trees.
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Oct 19, 2023
Tall
(Informal) Fanciful or exaggerated; boastful
Tall tales of heroic exploits.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Inadequate; insufficient
Oil in short supply.
Were short on experience.
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Oct 19, 2023
Tall
(of a person) Having a vertical extent greater than the average. For example, somebody with a height of over 6 feet would generally be considered to be tall.
Being tall is an advantage in basketball.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Tall
(of a building, etc.) Having its top a long way up; having a great vertical (and often greater than horizontal) extent; high.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Holding a trading position that is inversely related to the price of a security or index
Short investors.
An investor who is short gold.
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Oct 19, 2023
Tall
(obsolete) Seemly; suitable; fitting, becoming, comely; attractive, handsome.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
(Linguistics) Of, relating to, or being a speech sound of relatively brief duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mălus, "evil," as compared with the same or a similar sound of relatively long duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mālus, "apple tree."
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
(Grammar) Of, relating to, or being a vowel sound in English, such as the vowel sound (ă) in pat or () in put, that is descended from a vowel of brief duration.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.
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Oct 19, 2023
Tall
A tall serving of a drink, especially one from Starbucks, which contains 12 ounces.
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Oct 19, 2023
Tall
High in stature; having a considerable, or an unusual, extension upward; long and comparatively slender; having the diameter or lateral extent small in proportion to the height; as, a tall person, tree, or mast.
Two of far nobler shape, erect and tall.
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Oct 19, 2023
Tall
Brave; bold; courageous.
As tall a trenchermanAs e'er demolished a pye fortification.
His companions, being almost in despair of victory, were suddenly recomforted by Sir William Stanley, which came to succors with three thousand tall men.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
At a point before a given boundary, limit, or goal
A missile that landed short of the target.
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Oct 19, 2023
Tall
Great in vertical dimension; high in stature;
Tall people
Tall buildings
Tall trees
Tall ships
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Oct 19, 2023
Tall
Lofty in style;
He engages in so much tall talk, one never really realizes what he is saying
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Oct 19, 2023
Tall
Ambitious or challenging.
It's a tall order to finish the project in one day.
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Dec 26, 2023
Short
Shorts A byproduct of wheat processing that consists of germ, bran, and coarse meal or flour.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Shorts Clippings or trimmings that remain as byproducts in various manufacturing processes, often used to make an inferior variety of the product.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Having little duration.
Our meeting was a short six minutes today. Every day for the past month it’s been at least twenty minutes long.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
(followed by for) Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).
"Phone" is short for "telephone" and "asap" short for "as soon as possible".
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
(gambling) Of betting odds, offering a small return for the money wagered.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Brittle, crumbly. See shortbread, shortcake, shortcrust, shortening, hot short, cold-short.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant.
He gave a short answer to the question.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.
A short supply of provisions
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied, especially with money; scantily furnished; lacking.
To be short of money
I'd lend you the cash but I'm a little short at present.
The cashier came up short ten dollars on his morning shift.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard.
An account which is short of the truth
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
(finance) Being in a financial investment position that is structured to be profitable if the price of the underlying security declines in the future.
Short position
I'm short in General Motors because I think their sales are plunging.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Of money: given in the fewest possible notes, i.e. those of the largest denomination.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Abruptly, curtly, briefly.
They had to stop short to avoid hitting the dog in the street.
He cut me short repeatedly in the meeting.
The boss got a message and cut the meeting short.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Without achieving a goal or requirement.
His speech fell short of what was expected.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Relatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
(finance) With a negative ownership position.
We went short most finance companies in July.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
A short version of a garment in a particular size.
38 short suits fit me right off the rack.
Do you have that size in a short?
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
(baseball) A shortstop.
Jones smashes a grounder between third and short.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
(finance) A short seller.
The market decline was terrible, but the shorts were buying champagne.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
(finance) A short sale or short position.
He closed out his short at a modest loss after three months.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
(programming) An integer variable having a smaller range than normal integers; usually two bytes long.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
An automobile; especially in crack shorts, to break into automobiles.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
To provide with a smaller than agreed or labeled amount.
This is the third time I’ve caught them shorting us.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
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.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Deficient in.
We are short a few men on the second shift.
He's short common sense.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
(finance) Having a negative position in.
I don’t want to be short the market going into the weekend.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Not long; having brief length or linear extension; as, a short distance; a short piece of timber; a short flight.
The bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Not extended in time; having very limited duration; not protracted; as, short breath.
The life so short, the craft so long to learn.
To short absense I could yield.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty; as, a short supply of provisions, or of water.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Short
Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied; scantily furnished; lacking; not coming up to a resonable, or the ordinary, standard; - usually with of; as, to be short of money.
We shall be short in our provision.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Deficient; defective; imperfect; not coming up, as to a measure or standard; as, an account which is short of the trith.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Not distant in time; near at hand.
Marinell was sore offendedThat his departure thence should be so short.
He commanded those who were appointed to attend him to be ready by a short day.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Limited in intellectual power or grasp; not comprehensive; narrow; not tenacious, as memory.
Their own short understandings reachNo farther than the present.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Less important, efficaceous, or powerful; not equal or equivalent; less (than); - with of.
Hardly anything short of an invasion could rouse them again to war.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant; as, he gave a short answer to the question.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Not prolonged, or relatively less prolonged, in utterance; - opposed to long, and applied to vowels or to syllables. In English, the long and short of the same letter are not, in most cases, the long and short of the same sound; thus, the i in ill is the short sound, not of i in isle, but of ee in eel, and the e in pet is the short sound of a in pate, etc. See Quantity, and Guide to Pronunciation, 22, 30.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
The part of milled grain sifted out which is next finer than the bran.
The first remove above bran is shorts.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
A short sound, syllable, or vowel.
If we compare the nearest conventional shorts and longs in English, as in "bit" and "beat," "not" and "naught," we find that the short vowels are generally wide, the long narrow, besides being generally diphthongic as well. Hence, originally short vowels can be lengthened and yet kept quite distinct from the original longs.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Short
In a short manner; briefly; limitedly; abruptly; quickly; as, to stop short in one's course; to turn short.
He was taken up very short, and adjudged corrigible for such presumptuous language.
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
The fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed between 2nd and 3rd base
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration;
A short life
A short flight
A short holiday
A short story
Only a few short months
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Primarily spatial sense; having little length or lacking in length;
Short skirts
Short hair
The board was a foot short
A short toss
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Low in stature; not tall;
His was short and stocky
Short in stature
A short smokestack
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Not sufficient to meet a need;
An inadequate income
A poor salary
Money is short
On short rations
Food is in short supply
Short on experience
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Not holding securities or commodities that one sells in expectation of a fall in prices;
A short sale
Short in cotton
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Of speech sounds (especially vowels) of relatively short duration (as e.g. the English vowel sounds in `pat', `pet', `pit', `pot', putt')
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Containing a large amount of shortening; therefore tender and easy to crumble or break into flakes;
Shortbread is a short crumbly cookie
A short flaky pie crust
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so;
A light pound
A scant cup of sugar
Regularly gives short weight
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Used of syllables that are unaccented or of relatively brief duration
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Lacking foresight or scope;
A short view of the problem
Shortsighted policies
Shortsighted critics derided the plan
Myopic thinking
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Marked by rude or peremptory shortness;
Try to cultivate a less brusque manner
A curt reply
The salesgirl was very short with him
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
Without possessing something at the time it is contractually sold;
He made his fortune by selling short just before the crash
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
At some point or distance before a goal is reached;
He fell short of our expectations
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Oct 19, 2023
Short
In a curt, abrupt and discourteous manner;
He told me curtly to get on with it
He talked short with everyone
He said shortly that he didn't like it
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Repeatedly Asked Queries
What does "short" mean in physical terms?
It refers to a small vertical extent or stature.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 26, 2023
What does "tall" mean physically?
It refers to a large vertical extent or stature.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 26, 2023
Can "short" and "tall" be subjective?
Yes, based on cultural and individual perspectives.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 26, 2023
How is "short" used in architecture?
To describe buildings with few floors.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 26, 2023
What contexts use "tall" for non-physical traits?
In describing ambition or challenges.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 26, 2023
What are "short" and "tall" in geography?
Descriptions of natural formations' height.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 26, 2023
Do "short" and "tall" have opposite meanings?
Yes, they are often used as antonyms.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 26, 2023
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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