short-list

short-list is the alternative spelling of short list.

short-list is the alternative spelling of shortlist.

Meaning of short list

short list (plural short lists)

A list of candidates selected from a longer list, and from which one or more successful candidates are in turn selected.
(broadly) A list of the highest-ranked (most important) items from a longer list.

Synonyms:

hotlist
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see short, list.

shortlist (third-person singular simple present shortlists, present participle shortlisting, simple past and past participle shortlisted)

To place something on a short list.
- First and Trenitalia were initially shortlisted for the East Midlands franchise but withdrew from bidding to focus on the West Coast Partnership, while Trenitalia was shortlisted as a sole entity for the South Eastern franchise but again withdrew from the competition.2019 October, “First Trenitalia wins West Coast Partnership”, in Modern Railways, page 11

Noun
plural	short-lists
Verb
third-person singular present	short-lists
present participle	short-listing
past participle	short-listed
past	short-listed

What is short-list the alternative spelling of?: Short-list is the alternative spelling of short list.

Adapted from Wiktionary: short-list (page history and authors); short list (page history and authors); shortlist (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “short-list.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/short-list. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.