Word.ws English Dictionary

shorthanded

shorthanded adjective: lacking sufficient staff or people, as for normal or efficient operations. Also the simple past and past participle of shorthand.

Adjective

shorthanded (comparative more shorthanded, superlative most shorthanded)

  1. Lacking sufficient staff or people, as for normal or efficient operations.
    • The tiny restaurant usually got by with three workers on that shift, but found itself shorthanded when the tour bus pulled in.
    • "What are you doing out here?" I asked Iris. “We shorthanded?” She smiled. “We're always shorthanded, Miss Lois.2009, Judy Christie, Gone to Green, →ISBN
  2. Having less than a quorum.
    • Neither the code nor the case law discuss whether or how the power of a shorthanded school board should be curtailed1994, Alabama Court of Appeals, Louisiana. Courts of Appeal, Florida. District Court of Appeals, West's southern reporter, page 1120
  3. (team sports) Having, or occurring during an interval with, fewer than a full complement of players, often as the result of a penalty.
    • “Scoring a shorthanded goal gives the team a lift,” Lefley said. “We've been picking our spots and making the most of them.2014, Jeremy Rutherford, 100 Things Blues Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, →ISBN, page 246
  4. Having fewer than the standard number of players.
    • Some of the ideas discussed in the Omaha eight-or-better section include general concepts, position, low hands, high hands, your starting hand, play on the flop, multi-way versus shorthanded play, scare cards, getting counterfeited, and your playing style.1992, Ray Zee, High-Low-Split Poker, Seven-Card Stud and Omaha Eight-Or-Better for Advanced Players

Adverb

shorthanded (comparative more shorthanded, superlative most shorthanded)

  1. In a shorthanded manner.
    • "They were working shorthanded," said one PMA official, "this company's got a policy of releasing gangs working shorthanded."1997, David Wellman, The Union Makes Us Strong: Radical Unionism on the San Francisco Waterfront, →ISBN, page 274
    • A player may receive a red card any time without the player first receiving a yellow card. When a player gets a red card, they must leave the game and their team must play shorthanded.2013, Dr. Harry Barker, KICK-IT: A Fun Soccer Primer For Kids, →ISBN

Also used as

shorthanded is also the simple past and past participle of shorthand.

Synonyms of shorthanded

Forms of shorthanded

Adjective
comparativemore shorthanded
superlativemost shorthanded
Adverb
comparativemore shorthanded
superlativemost shorthanded

Origin of shorthanded

From short + handed.

Words formed from shorthanded

Questions about shorthanded

What does shorthanded mean?
Shorthanded means lacking sufficient staff or people, as for normal or efficient operations.
What part of speech is shorthanded?
Shorthanded can be an adjective or an adverb.

Words near shorthanded in the dictionary

  1. shorthaired
  2. shorthairs
  3. shorthand
  4. shorthand typist
  5. shorthand typists
  6. shorthanded
  7. shorthandedly
  8. shorthandedness
  9. shorthander
  10. shorthanders
  11. shorthanding

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: shorthanded (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-shorthanded.ogg.

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