Dictionary

fall short en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /foːl ʃoːt/ (Australia)
• /fɔl ʃoɹt/ (General-American)
• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient.
   • But if being is not a whole through being affected by that affection, and there is such a thing as the whole itself, it follows that being falls short of itself. 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 245c:
   • Ample proof that the maintenance of locomotives and track in the mid-Victorian era sometimes fell far short of present-day standards is afforded by an accident which occurred on July 3, 1866, near Royston, on the Cambridge branch of the Great Northern Railway. 1946 July and August, “The Royston Accident, G.N.R., July 3, 1866”, in Railway Magazine, page 216:
   • They have fallen short on so many occasions that an England team who rises to the occasion are worthy of the highest praise. 2018 July 7, Phil McNulty, “Sweden 0-2 England”, in BBC Sport:
   • I did my best, but fell far short of the score cutoff.

Forms

Deriveds

shortfall

Relateds

come up short · shortcoming

Translations (15)

mi hara (to be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient) · hu elmarad (…az elvárásoktól) (to be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient) · la dēsum (to be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient) · ru быть недостаточным (to be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient) · fr être en deçà de (to be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient) · pt não ser suficiente (to be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient) · grc ὑστερέω (to be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient) · nl tekortschieten (to be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient) · sv komma till korta (to be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient) · hu elégtelennek bizonyul (to be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient) · fa کم آوردن (to be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient) · hu nem felel meg (to be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient) · hu nem éri el (to be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient) · grc ἐλασσόομαι (to be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient) · hu alatta marad (…az elvárásoknak) (to be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient)