sell short

S s

Definitions of sell short words

adjective sell short having little length; not long. 1
adjective sell short having little height; not tall: a short man. 1
adjective sell short extending or reaching only a little way: a short path. 1
adjective sell short brief in duration; not extensive in time: a short wait. 1
adjective sell short brief or concise, as writing. 1
adjective sell short rudely brief; abrupt; hurting: short behavior. 1

before 900

One of the 4% oldest English words

before 900; Middle English schort (adj.), Old English sceort; cognate with Old High German scurz short, Old Norse skortr shortness, scarcity

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 98% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

be-little — to regard or portray as less impressive or important than appearances indicate; depreciate; disparage.
make light of — of little weight; not heavy: a light load.