shorten

[shawr-tn] / ˈʃɔr tn /

VERB

diminish, decrease

Synonyms

STRONGEST

abbreviate compress curtail cut cut back cut down lessen minimize reduce shrink slash trim

STRONG

abridge bob chop clip condense contract dock edit elide excerpt lop retrench snip

WEAK

blue pencil boil down cut to the bone make a long story short put in a nutshell

Antonyms

STRONGEST

develop enlarge expand extend grow increase lengthen raise strengthen stretch

WEAK

amplify elongate

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In April, OpenAI introduced GPT-Rosalind, which it says is intended to help researchers shorten drug-development timelines.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026

Eccentric exercise focuses on the phase when muscles lengthen rather than shorten.

From Science Daily • May 1, 2026

Businesses, he said, will need to consider whether it's worth the extra costs to shorten travel by just a few days.

From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026

There was a machinery working to shorten his punishment.

From Salon • Apr. 21, 2026

Day after day was like this, and we began to shorten our hauls, for by midafternoon both of us would be sweating and shaking with strain and fatigue.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Vocabulary lists containing shorten

Banned Book Week Words

Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!

shorten

Example Sentences

Related Words

Vocabulary lists containing shorten

Banned Book Week Words