shortfall
Americannoun
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shortfalls
plural
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the quantity or extent by which something falls short; deficiency; shortage.
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the act or fact of falling short.
noun
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failure to meet a goal or a requirement
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the amount of such a failure; deficiency
a shortfall of £30m
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of shortfall
Explanation
If there's not enough of something, there's a shortfall. You expected to have plenty of Halloween candy, but a shortfall of Skittles has you running to the store to buy more. When an available quantity doesn't meet your needs, or there's a deficiency of something you want, you've got a shortfall. You might dump out your piggybank and discover a shortfall of cash, or start making a soufflé but find an egg shortfall when you open the fridge. This word comes from the idea of a supply that falls short of expectations.
Vocabulary lists containing shortfall
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.
See Examples For:
"Where costs rise above the ceiling, refiners and importers will carry the shortfall and recover it later when crude prices or exchange rates allow without breaching the ceiling," he said,
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Most were ready to handle the revenue shortfall by increasing fees, assessments and utility taxes, according to the note.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
“Factor in the structural global shortfall in refining capacity, and we get retail prices of diesel and other refined products at record highs,” she added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
This week Quentin Fottrell — the Moneyist — answered questions from a 67-year-old man who has managed his finances well but needs to continue working to avoid a monthly shortfall.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
This latest shortfall would involve more cuts in the arts.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
As Metrolink faces budget shortfalls and service reductions, the regional commuter rail network is raising its ticket prices on Monday for the first time in 13 years by as much as 27%.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
Like culinary dishes, market crashes require specific ingredients: overstretched valuations, high debt levels and cash shortfalls, high volatility, rising capital costs, contagion vectors and poor shock absorbers.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
A new report this week by the Defense Department’s inspector general says the war “has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
But the independent watchdog said the US spent more than $22 billion on munitions from February through June, leading to "strategic inventory shortfalls".
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
It said that Governor Thomas Corbett had proposed that the state’s institutions of higher learning should consider closing their budget shortfalls by drilling for natural gas on their campuses.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
