shortchange

American  

[shawrt-cheynj] / ˈʃɔrtˈtʃeɪndʒ /

verb (used with object)

shortchanged, shortchanging

1. to give less than the correct change to.

2. to deal with unfairly or dishonestly, especially to cheat.

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Other Word Forms

• shortchanger noun

Etymology

Origin of shortchange

An Americanism dating back to 1890–95

Explanation

To shortchange is to give someone less than you owe them. If you hand over a five dollar bill for a one-dollar lemonade and get three dollars back, the lemonade seller shortchanged you. The useful word shortchange is an American English coinage from the 1880s. It comes from the money sense of the noun change, and the idea that someone has deliberately withheld some of the change they owe you, leaving you short. You can use shortchange even when you're not talking about cash: "Our math teacher promised a pizza party on the last day of school, but she really shortchanged us! All we got was a bag of pretzels."

Example Sentences

‘We don’t want to shortchange our daughter just because the focus seems to be on the boys.’

From MarketWatch • Mar. 6, 2026

But some economists and academics say that would shortchange taxpayers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025

He said he didn’t intend to shortchange workers and was working on rectifying the issue.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 30, 2024

"AustralianSuper is resolute the value and future value of Origin is better in the hands of AustralianSuper members and other shareholders than a private equity consortium planning to shortchange them," the pension fund said.

From Reuters • Nov. 23, 2023

To make sure that workers at state farms do not shortchange the military, the army stations soldiers at all three thousand of them throughout the harvest season.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden