Short vs. Tall: What's the Difference?

Edited by Aimie Carlson || By Janet White || Updated on September 27, 2023

"Short" describes a limited extent in height or length, while "Tall" refers to a greater extent in height, often above average.

Key Differences

The English language utilizes various adjectives to convey size, height, and length. Among them, "Short" and "Tall" are commonly employed. "Short" generally denotes something of limited length or height. Whether describing a person, an object, or a span of time, "Short" suggests that it lacks in comparative measure. For instance, a short person is below average height, while a short story is brief in length.

Contrarily, "Tall" is an adjective used to depict something that has an above-average or considerable height. When describing people, "Tall" insinuates an individual's height is above the norm. In broader contexts, tall can describe buildings, trees, or any other entity that stands out due to its notable height.

While both terms are relative and can change based on context, they inherently offer opposite meanings. For example, a short building in a city with skyscrapers might be considered tall in a town with predominantly single-story structures. Yet, the inherent concept remains: "Short" points to a lack in height or length, and "Tall" indicates an abundance of it.

It's worth noting that both words can stretch beyond physical descriptions. For instance, "Short" can hint at a shortage or lack of something, as in "short on cash," while "Tall" can sometimes allude to unbelievable tales or claims, as in "a tall tale." Regardless of context, these adjectives allow for clear, concise descriptions in everyday conversations and writings.

Comparison Chart

Basic Definition

Limited in height or length.

Greater in height, often above average.

Contextual Usage

Can describe objects, durations, or deficits.

Often describes objects or people with notable height.

Relativity

Often comparative, based on surrounding references.

Comparative, depending on the average or norm.

Beyond Physical

Can indicate a shortage, e.g., "short on time".

Can mean exaggerated, e.g., "a tall tale".

Grammatical Role

Adjective used to describe nouns.

Adjective used to depict nouns.

Short and Tall Definitions

Short

Brief in duration.

It was a short visit, but a memorable one.

Tall

Having considerable height.

The tall building dominated the skyline.

Short

Close to the present time.

The project is short-term, ending next month.

Tall

Above average in height for a person.

She was tall for her age, towering over her classmates.

Short

Having little length; not long.

Tall

Elevated in amount or degree.

The tall order was hard to fulfill.

Short

Having little height; not tall.

Tall

Proud or confident in posture.

He stood tall, despite the challenges.

Short

Extending or traveling not far or not far enough

A short toss.

Tall

Exaggerated or hard to believe.

He spun a tall tale about meeting aliens.

Short

Lasting a brief time

A short holiday.

Tall

Having greater than ordinary height

A tall woman.

Short

Appearing to pass quickly

Finished the job in a few short months.

Tall

Having considerable height, especially in relation to width; lofty

Tall trees.

Short

Not lengthy; succinct

Short and to the point.

Tall

Having a specified height

A plant three feet tall.

Short

Rudely brief; abrupt

The owner was quite short with the new hire.

Tall

(Informal) Fanciful or exaggerated; boastful

Tall tales of heroic exploits.

Short

Easily provoked; irascible

Has a short temper.

Tall

Impressively great or difficult

A tall order to fill.

Short

Inadequate; insufficient

Oil in short supply.

Were short on experience.

Tall

(Obsolete) Excellent; fine.

Short

Lacking in length or amount

A board that is short two inches.

Tall

With proud bearing; straight

Stand tall.

Short

Lacking in breadth or scope

A short view of the problem.

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.

Short

Deficient in retentiveness

A short memory.

Tall

(of a building, etc.) Having its top a long way up; having a great vertical (and often greater than horizontal) extent; high.

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.

Tall

(of a story) Hard to believe, such as a tall story or a tall tale.

Short

Of or relating to a short sale

A short position.

Tall

Smaller than grande, usually 8 ounces (~ 230 ml).

Short

Containing a large amount of shortening; flaky

A short pie crust.

Tall

(obsolete) Obsequious; obedient.

Short

Not ductile; brittle

Short iron.

Tall

(obsolete) Seemly; suitable; fitting, becoming, comely; attractive, handsome.

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."

Tall

(obsolete) Bold; brave; courageous; valiant.

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.

Tall

(archaic) Fine; proper; admirable; great; excellent.

Short

Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.

Tall

Someone or something that is tall.

Short

(Slang) Close to the end of a tour of military duty.

Tall

A clothing size for taller people.

Do you have this in a tall?

Short

Abruptly; quickly

Stop short.

Tall

A tall serving of a drink, especially one from Starbucks, which contains 12 ounces.

Short

In a rude or curt manner.

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.

Short

At a point before a given boundary, limit, or goal

A missile that landed short of the target.

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.

Short

At a disadvantage

We were caught short by the sudden storm.

Tall

Fine; splendid; excellent; also, extravagant; excessive.

Short

By means of a short sale

Selling a commodity short.

Tall

Great in vertical dimension; high in stature;

Tall people

Tall buildings

Tall trees

Tall ships

Short

(Linguistics) A short syllable, vowel, or consonant.

Tall

Lofty in style;

He engages in so much tall talk, one never really realizes what he is saying

Short

A brief film; a short subject.

Tall

Impressively difficult;

A tall order

Short

A size of clothing less long than the average for that size.

Tall

Too improbable to admit of belief;

A tall story

Short

Shorts Short pants extending to the knee or above.

Short

Shorts Undershorts.

Short

A short sale.

Short

One that sells short.

Short

Shorts A byproduct of wheat processing that consists of germ, bran, and coarse meal or flour.

Short

Shorts Clippings or trimmings that remain as byproducts in various manufacturing processes, often used to make an inferior variety of the product.

Short

A short circuit.

Short

A malfunction caused by a short circuit.

Short

(Baseball) A shortstop.

Short

To cause a short circuit in.

Short

(Informal) To give (one) less than one is entitled to; shortchange.

Short

To short-sell (a security or index).

Short

To short-circuit.

Short

Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.

Short

(of a person) Of comparatively small height.

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.

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".

Short

That is relatively close to the batsman.

Short

Bowled so that it bounces relatively far from the batsman.

Short

That falls short of the green or the hole.

Short

(gambling) Of betting odds, offering a small return for the money wagered.

Short

Brittle, crumbly. See shortbread, shortcake, shortcrust, shortening, hot short, cold-short.

Short

Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant.

He gave a short answer to the question.

Short

Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.

A short supply of provisions

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.

Short

Deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard.

An account which is short of the truth

Short

(colloquial) Undiluted; neat.

Short

(obsolete) Not distant in time; near at hand.

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.

Short

(by extension) Doubtful of, skeptical of.

Short

Of money: given in the fewest possible notes, i.e. those of the largest denomination.

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.

Short

Unawares.

The recent developments at work caught them short.

Short

Without achieving a goal or requirement.

His speech fell short of what was expected.

Short

Relatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.

Short

(finance) With a negative ownership position.

We went short most finance companies in July.

Short

A short circuit.

Short

A short film.

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?

Short

(baseball) A shortstop.

Jones smashes a grounder between third and short.

Short

(finance) A short seller.

The market decline was terrible, but the shorts were buying champagne.

Short

(finance) A short sale or short position.

He closed out his short at a modest loss after three months.

Short

A summary account.

Short

(phonetics) A short sound, syllable, or vowel.

Short

(programming) An integer variable having a smaller range than normal integers; usually two bytes long.

Short

An automobile; especially in crack shorts, to break into automobiles.

Short

(transitive) To cause a short circuit in (something).

Short

To short circuit.

Short

(transitive) To shortchange.

Short

To provide with a smaller than agreed or labeled amount.

This is the third time I’ve caught them shorting us.

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.

Short

(obsolete) To shorten.

Short

Deficient in.

We are short a few men on the second shift.

He's short common sense.

Short

(finance) Having a negative position in.

I don’t want to be short the market going into the weekend.

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.

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.

Short

Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty; as, a short supply of provisions, or of water.

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.

Short

Deficient; defective; imperfect; not coming up, as to a measure or standard; as, an account which is short of the trith.

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.

Short

Limited in intellectual power or grasp; not comprehensive; narrow; not tenacious, as memory.

Their own short understandings reachNo farther than the present.

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.

Short

Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant; as, he gave a short answer to the question.

Short

Breaking or crumbling readily in the mouth; crisp; as, short pastry.

Short

Brittle.

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.

Short

A summary account.

The short and the long is, our play is preferred.

Short

The part of milled grain sifted out which is next finer than the bran.

The first remove above bran is shorts.

Short

Short, inferior hemp.

Short

Breeches; shortclothes.

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.

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.

Short

To shorten.

Short

To fail; to decrease.

Short

The location on a baseball field where the shortstop is stationed

Short

Accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference

Short

The fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed between 2nd and 3rd base

Short

Cheat someone by not returning him enough money

Short

Create a short-circuit in

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

Short

Primarily spatial sense; having little length or lacking in length;

Short skirts

Short hair

The board was a foot short

A short toss

Short

Low in stature; not tall;

His was short and stocky

Short in stature

A short smokestack

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

Short

Not holding securities or commodities that one sells in expectation of a fall in prices;

A short sale

Short in cotton

Short

Of speech sounds (especially vowels) of relatively short duration (as e.g. the English vowel sounds in `pat', `pet', `pit', `pot', putt')

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

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

Short

Used of syllables that are unaccented or of relatively brief duration

Short

(of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range;

A short memory

Short

Lacking foresight or scope;

A short view of the problem

Shortsighted policies

Shortsighted critics derided the plan

Myopic thinking

Short

Unwilling to endure;

She was short with the slower students

Short

Quickly aroused to anger;

A hotheaded commander

Short

Most direct;

Took the shortest and most direct route to town

Short

Marked by rude or peremptory shortness;

Try to cultivate a less brusque manner

A curt reply

The salesgirl was very short with him

Short

Quickly and without warning;

He stopped suddenly

Short

Without possessing something at the time it is contractually sold;

He made his fortune by selling short just before the crash

Short

Clean across;

The car's axle snapped short

Short

At some point or distance before a goal is reached;

He fell short of our expectations

Short

So as to interrupt;

She took him up short before he could continue

Short

At a disadvantage;

I was caught short

Short

Tightly;

She caught him up short on his lapel

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

Short

Limited in height or length.

The short tree barely reached the window.

Short

Lacking or insufficient in amount.

He was short on money this month.

Short

Abrupt or curt in manner.

His short response left her wondering.

FAQs

Can "Short" mean close to the present?

Yes, as in "short-term" plans or goals.

Does "Tall" always mean something positive?

Not necessarily, e.g., "a tall tale" can be an exaggerated, unbelievable story.

Can "Short" describe durations?

Yes, e.g., "a short film" or "a short while".

Is "Tall" used only for people?

No, it can describe anything with notable height, like buildings or trees.

Can "Short" indicate a deficiency?

Yes, like being "short on cash".

Can "Short" describe someone's temperament?

Yes, someone can have a "short temper" meaning easily angered.

Does "Tall" ever mean the exact opposite of high?

No, "Tall" consistently relates to height or exaggeration.

Can you use "Tall" to describe non-physical concepts?

Yes, like "a tall order" meaning a challenging request.

Can "Short" be used in sports?

Yes, like "shortstop" in baseball or "short corner" in soccer.

How is "Short" related to electricity?

A "short circuit" is an unintended connection in an electrical system.

Can "Tall" describe sounds?

Not typically. "Tall" mainly describes height or exaggeration.

Are the terms opposites?

Generally, "Short" and "Tall" are considered antonyms in terms of height.

Is "Tall" always relative to an average?

Often, but the context determines what the average or norm is.

How is "Short" used in finance?

"Shorting" a stock means betting its price will drop.

Is "Tall" ever used in clothing?

Yes, for sizes that accommodate longer limbs or torsos.

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About Author

Written by

Janet White

Janet White has been an esteemed writer and blogger for Difference Wiki. Holding a Master's degree in Science and Medical Journalism from the prestigious Boston University, she has consistently demonstrated her expertise and passion for her field. When she's not immersed in her work, Janet relishes her time exercising, delving into a good book, and cherishing moments with friends and family.

Edited by

Aimie Carlson

Aimie Carlson, holding a master's degree in English literature, is a fervent English language enthusiast. She lends her writing talents to Difference Wiki, a prominent website that specializes in comparisons, offering readers insightful analyses that both captivate and inform.