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:
A weak year for USC’s health system deepened the shortfall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
With public finances under strain, Schomaker said COP17 in Armenia would focus on ways to better engage the private sector in helping close the $700-billion annual funding shortfall for the 2030 nature protection goals.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
In June 2025, Sramek offered Suisun City a $55,000 grant for the local July 4 fireworks celebration and other events threatened by a budget shortfall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 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
This all started with me noticing a 60-liter shortfall in water production.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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
Navy may have only another six months of blockade left in it before maintenance and equipment shortfalls force compromises in how we surveil, block and escort ships in the Persian Gulf.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
It did, however, note the inventory shortfalls and reveal "industrial base bottlenecks" for munitions resupply.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
“For years, wildfire survivors have been forced to wait for answers while restitution shortfalls remain unresolved,” Patterson said in a statement after the bill passed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
The unemployment caused home foreclosures, leading to shortfalls in property tax receipts, and therefore holes in the school budget.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
