Short vs. Stout: What's the Difference?

By Janet White || Updated on May 30, 2024

"Short" refers to a small height or length, while "stout" describes a thick, solid build or sturdy nature.

Key Differences

"Short" is commonly used to describe something or someone with a small height or length. For example, a short person might not reach the average height, or a short story might be brief in length. Short is straightforward and purely dimensional. "Stout," on the other hand, describes something or someone with a thick, solid build. It suggests robustness and sturdiness. For instance, a stout person is not just short but also broad and solidly built, conveying a sense of strength or sturdiness.

In the context of objects, "short" implies a small size in one dimension, like a short stick, which might be short in length but not necessarily in width. "Stout" indicates an object that is thick and robust, such as a stout beer bottle, which is often short and wide.

While "short" focuses on the dimension of height or length without necessarily implying anything about the width or thickness, "stout" combines the idea of being shorter than average with a significant thickness, giving an impression of solidity and strength.

When referring to liquids, "short" might describe a small amount or a brief duration, as in a short drink. "Stout," however, often describes a type of strong, dark beer, highlighting its richness and robustness in flavor.

In personality traits, "short" might metaphorically imply brevity in temper or patience, whereas "stout" can suggest courage and resilience, indicating a solid and strong character.

Comparison Chart

Primary Meaning

Small in height or length

Thick, solid build

Physical Description

Short in height (e.g., short person)

Robust and thick (e.g., stout person)

Object Dimension

Short in length (e.g., short stick)

Sturdy and broad (e.g., stout beer bottle)

Liquid Description

Small quantity (e.g., short drink)

Strong, dark beer (e.g., stout beer)

Metaphorical Use

Brief in temper (e.g., short-tempered)

Courageous, resilient (e.g., stout-hearted)

Short and Stout Definitions

Short

Having a small height.

He is short compared to his peers.

Stout

Robust and sturdy.

The stout tree withstood the storm.

Short

Inadequate in amount.

The supply was short of our needs.

Stout

Bulky in figure; thickset or corpulent.

Short

Having little length; not long.

Stout

Strong in body; sturdy

Added a stout defensive end to improve the front line.

Short

Having little height; not tall.

Stout

Thick or strong in structure or substance; solid or substantial

"They met a stout barrier of old farm-carts upturned" (J.R.R. Tolkien).

Short

Extending or traveling not far or not far enough

A short toss.

Stout

Having or marked by boldness or determination; resolute

Stout of heart.

Short

Lasting a brief time

A short holiday.

Stout

Stubborn or uncompromising

Put up stout resistance to the proposal.

Short

Appearing to pass quickly

Finished the job in a few short months.

Stout

Having a strong flavor

A cup of stout coffee.

Short

Not lengthy; succinct

Short and to the point.

Stout

A thickset or corpulent person.

Short

Rudely brief; abrupt

The owner was quite short with the new hire.

Stout

A garment size for a large or heavy figure.

Short

Easily provoked; irascible

Has a short temper.

Stout

A very dark ale or lager beer.

Short

Inadequate; insufficient

Oil in short supply.

Were short on experience.

Stout

Large; bulky.

Short

Lacking in length or amount

A board that is short two inches.

Stout

(obsolete) Bold, strong-minded.

Short

Lacking in breadth or scope

A short view of the problem.

Stout

(obsolete) Proud; haughty.

Short

Deficient in retentiveness

A short memory.

Stout

Firm; resolute; dauntless.

Short

Holding a trading position that is inversely related to the price of a security or index

Short investors.

An investor who is short gold.

Stout

Materially strong, enduring.

Campers prefer stout vessels, sticks and cloth.

Short

Of or relating to a short sale

A short position.

Stout

Obstinate.

Short

Containing a large amount of shortening; flaky

A short pie crust.

Stout

(beer) A dark and strong malt brew made with toasted grain.

Stout is darker, stronger and sweeter than porter beer.

Short

Not ductile; brittle

Short iron.

Stout

An obese person.

Short

(Linguistics) Of, relating to, or being a speech sound of relatively brief duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mălus, "evil," as compared with the same or a similar sound of relatively long duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mālus, "apple tree."

Stout

A large clothing size.

Short

(Grammar) Of, relating to, or being a vowel sound in English, such as the vowel sound (ă) in pat or () in put, that is descended from a vowel of brief duration.

Stout

Gnat.

Short

Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.

Stout

Gadfly.

Short

(Slang) Close to the end of a tour of military duty.

Stout

(dialectal) Firefly or miller moth.

Short

Abruptly; quickly

Stop short.

Stout

To be bold or defiant.

Short

In a rude or curt manner.

Stout

To persist, endure.

Short

At a point before a given boundary, limit, or goal

A missile that landed short of the target.

Stout

Strong; lusty; vigorous; robust; sinewy; muscular; hence, firm; resolute; dauntless.

With hearts stern and stout.

A stouter champion never handled sword.

He lost the character of a bold, stout, magnanimous man.

The lords all standTo clear their cause, most resolutely stout.

Short

At a disadvantage

We were caught short by the sudden storm.

Stout

Proud; haughty; arrogant; hard.

Your words have been stout against me.

Commonly . . . they that be rich are lofty and stout.

Short

By means of a short sale

Selling a commodity short.

Stout

Firm; tough; materially strong; enduring; as, a stout vessel, stick, string, or cloth.

Short

(Linguistics) A short syllable, vowel, or consonant.

Stout

Large; bulky; corpulent.

Short

A brief film; a short subject.

Stout

A strong, dark malt brew having a higher percentage of hops than porter; strong porter; a popular variety sold in the U. S. is Guinness' stout.

Short

A size of clothing less long than the average for that size.

Stout

A strong very dark heavy-bodied ale made from pale malt and roasted unmalted barley and (often) caramel malt with hops

Short

Shorts Short pants extending to the knee or above.

Stout

A garment size for a large or heavy person

Short

Shorts Undershorts.

Stout

Dependable;

The stalwart citizens at Lexington

A stalwart supporter of the UN

Stout hearts

Short

A short sale.

Stout

Euphemisms for `fat';

Men are portly and women are stout

Short

One that sells short.

Stout

Having rugged physical strength; inured to fatigue or hardships;

Hardy explorers of northern Canada

Proud of her tall stalwart son

Stout seamen

Sturdy young athletes

Short

Shorts A byproduct of wheat processing that consists of germ, bran, and coarse meal or flour.

Stout

Thick and strong in build.

The stout man lifted the heavy box easily.

Short

Shorts Clippings or trimmings that remain as byproducts in various manufacturing processes, often used to make an inferior variety of the product.

Stout

Courageous and determined.

She was stout in defending her beliefs.

Short

A short circuit.

Stout

Strong and rich in flavor (beer).

He enjoyed a pint of stout at the pub.

Short

A malfunction caused by a short circuit.

Stout

Solidly constructed.

The stout bridge was built to last.

Short

(Baseball) A shortstop.

Short

To cause a short circuit in.

Short

(Informal) To give (one) less than one is entitled to; shortchange.

Short

To short-sell (a security or index).

Short

To short-circuit.

Short

Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.

Short

(of a person) Of comparatively small height.

Short

Having little duration.

Our meeting was a short six minutes today. Every day for the past month it’s been at least twenty minutes long.

Short

(followed by for) Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).

"Phone" is short for "telephone" and "asap" short for "as soon as possible".

Short

That is relatively close to the batsman.

Short

Bowled so that it bounces relatively far from the batsman.

Short

That falls short of the green or the hole.

Short

(gambling) Of betting odds, offering a small return for the money wagered.

Short

Brittle, crumbly. See shortbread, shortcake, shortcrust, shortening, hot short, cold-short.

Short

Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant.

He gave a short answer to the question.

Short

Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.

A short supply of provisions

Short

Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied, especially with money; scantily furnished; lacking.

To be short of money

I'd lend you the cash but I'm a little short at present.

The cashier came up short ten dollars on his morning shift.

Short

Deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard.

An account which is short of the truth

Short

(colloquial) Undiluted; neat.

Short

(obsolete) Not distant in time; near at hand.

Short

(finance) Being in a financial investment position that is structured to be profitable if the price of the underlying security declines in the future.

Short position

I'm short in General Motors because I think their sales are plunging.

Short

(by extension) Doubtful of, skeptical of.

Short

Of money: given in the fewest possible notes, i.e. those of the largest denomination.

Short

Abruptly, curtly, briefly.

They had to stop short to avoid hitting the dog in the street.

He cut me short repeatedly in the meeting.

The boss got a message and cut the meeting short.

Short

Unawares.

The recent developments at work caught them short.

Short

Without achieving a goal or requirement.

His speech fell short of what was expected.

Short

Relatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.

Short

(finance) With a negative ownership position.

We went short most finance companies in July.

Short

A short circuit.

Short

A short film.

Short

A short version of a garment in a particular size.

38 short suits fit me right off the rack.

Do you have that size in a short?

Short

(baseball) A shortstop.

Jones smashes a grounder between third and short.

Short

(finance) A short seller.

The market decline was terrible, but the shorts were buying champagne.

Short

(finance) A short sale or short position.

He closed out his short at a modest loss after three months.

Short

A summary account.

Short

(phonetics) A short sound, syllable, or vowel.

Short

(programming) An integer variable having a smaller range than normal integers; usually two bytes long.

Short

An automobile; especially in crack shorts, to break into automobiles.

Short

(transitive) To cause a short circuit in (something).

Short

To short circuit.

Short

(transitive) To shortchange.

Short

To provide with a smaller than agreed or labeled amount.

This is the third time I’ve caught them shorting us.

Short

To sell something, especially securities, that one does not own at the moment for delivery at a later date in hopes of profiting from a decline in the price; to sell short.

Short

(obsolete) To shorten.

Short

Deficient in.

We are short a few men on the second shift.

He's short common sense.

Short

(finance) Having a negative position in.

I don’t want to be short the market going into the weekend.

Short

Not long; having brief length or linear extension; as, a short distance; a short piece of timber; a short flight.

The bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it.

Short

Not extended in time; having very limited duration; not protracted; as, short breath.

The life so short, the craft so long to learn.

To short absense I could yield.

Short

Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty; as, a short supply of provisions, or of water.

Short

Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied; scantily furnished; lacking; not coming up to a resonable, or the ordinary, standard; - usually with of; as, to be short of money.

We shall be short in our provision.

Short

Deficient; defective; imperfect; not coming up, as to a measure or standard; as, an account which is short of the trith.

Short

Not distant in time; near at hand.

Marinell was sore offendedThat his departure thence should be so short.

He commanded those who were appointed to attend him to be ready by a short day.

Short

Limited in intellectual power or grasp; not comprehensive; narrow; not tenacious, as memory.

Their own short understandings reachNo farther than the present.

Short

Less important, efficaceous, or powerful; not equal or equivalent; less (than); - with of.

Hardly anything short of an invasion could rouse them again to war.

Short

Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant; as, he gave a short answer to the question.

Short

Breaking or crumbling readily in the mouth; crisp; as, short pastry.

Short

Brittle.

Short

Not prolonged, or relatively less prolonged, in utterance; - opposed to long, and applied to vowels or to syllables. In English, the long and short of the same letter are not, in most cases, the long and short of the same sound; thus, the i in ill is the short sound, not of i in isle, but of ee in eel, and the e in pet is the short sound of a in pate, etc. See Quantity, and Guide to Pronunciation, 22, 30.

Short

A summary account.

The short and the long is, our play is preferred.

Short

The part of milled grain sifted out which is next finer than the bran.

The first remove above bran is shorts.

Short

Short, inferior hemp.

Short

Breeches; shortclothes.

Short

A short sound, syllable, or vowel.

If we compare the nearest conventional shorts and longs in English, as in "bit" and "beat," "not" and "naught," we find that the short vowels are generally wide, the long narrow, besides being generally diphthongic as well. Hence, originally short vowels can be lengthened and yet kept quite distinct from the original longs.

Short

In a short manner; briefly; limitedly; abruptly; quickly; as, to stop short in one's course; to turn short.

He was taken up very short, and adjudged corrigible for such presumptuous language.

Short

To shorten.

Short

To fail; to decrease.

Short

The location on a baseball field where the shortstop is stationed

Short

Accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference

Short

The fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed between 2nd and 3rd base

Short

Cheat someone by not returning him enough money

Short

Create a short-circuit in

Short

Primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration;

A short life

A short flight

A short holiday

A short story

Only a few short months

Short

Primarily spatial sense; having little length or lacking in length;

Short skirts

Short hair

The board was a foot short

A short toss

Short

Low in stature; not tall;

His was short and stocky

Short in stature

A short smokestack

Short

Not sufficient to meet a need;

An inadequate income

A poor salary

Money is short

On short rations

Food is in short supply

Short on experience

Short

Not holding securities or commodities that one sells in expectation of a fall in prices;

A short sale

Short in cotton

Short

Of speech sounds (especially vowels) of relatively short duration (as e.g. the English vowel sounds in `pat', `pet', `pit', `pot', putt')

Short

Containing a large amount of shortening; therefore tender and easy to crumble or break into flakes;

Shortbread is a short crumbly cookie

A short flaky pie crust

Short

Less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so;

A light pound

A scant cup of sugar

Regularly gives short weight

Short

Used of syllables that are unaccented or of relatively brief duration

Short

(of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range;

A short memory

Short

Lacking foresight or scope;

A short view of the problem

Shortsighted policies

Shortsighted critics derided the plan

Myopic thinking

Short

Unwilling to endure;

She was short with the slower students

Short

Quickly aroused to anger;

A hotheaded commander

Short

Most direct;

Took the shortest and most direct route to town

Short

Marked by rude or peremptory shortness;

Try to cultivate a less brusque manner

A curt reply

The salesgirl was very short with him

Short

Quickly and without warning;

He stopped suddenly

Short

Without possessing something at the time it is contractually sold;

He made his fortune by selling short just before the crash

Short

Clean across;

The car's axle snapped short

Short

At some point or distance before a goal is reached;

He fell short of our expectations

Short

So as to interrupt;

She took him up short before he could continue

Short

At a disadvantage;

I was caught short

Short

Tightly;

She caught him up short on his lapel

Short

In a curt, abrupt and discourteous manner;

He told me curtly to get on with it

He talked short with everyone

He said shortly that he didn't like it

Short

Limited in length.

The essay was short but informative.

Short

Brief in duration.

The meeting was surprisingly short.

Short

Brief in extent.

Her answer was short and to the point.

FAQs

Can "short" refer to duration?

Yes, "short" can refer to a brief duration, such as a short meeting.

What does "short" mean?

"Short" means having a small height or length.

Is "short" used for objects?

Yes, "short" can describe objects with small length, like a short stick.

Is "short" always about height?

No, "short" can also refer to length, duration, or amount.

Can "short" describe a story?

Yes, "short" can describe a brief story.

Does "stout" imply strength?

Yes, "stout" implies strength and robustness.

Is "short" negative?

Not necessarily; context determines if "short" is negative.

Can "stout" describe personality?

Yes, "stout" can describe a courageous and determined personality.

Does "stout" refer to beverages?

Yes, "stout" is a type of strong, dark beer.

What does "stout" mean?

"Stout" describes a thick, solid build or sturdy nature.

Can "short" be used metaphorically?

Yes, "short" can describe brevity in temper, like "short-tempered."

Does "stout" suggest heaviness?

Yes, "stout" can suggest heaviness and solidity.

Is "short" used in fashion?

Yes, "short" can describe garments like short skirts or shorts.

Is "stout" used for plants?

Yes, "stout" can describe robust plants, like a stout tree.

Can "short" mean insufficient?

Yes, "short" can mean inadequate in amount.

Does "stout" imply width?

Yes, "stout" often implies a broad or thick build.

Does "stout" mean courageous?

Yes, "stout" can describe someone with courage and determination.

Can "stout" refer to animals?

Yes, "stout" can describe animals with a robust build.

Is "short" common in everyday language?

Yes, "short" is commonly used in various contexts.

Does "stout" imply durability?

Yes, "stout" implies durability and sturdiness.

Specialty vs. Specialism

Expert vs. Proficient

About Author

Written by

Janet White

Janet White has been an esteemed writer and blogger for Difference Wiki. Holding a Master's degree in Science and Medical Journalism from the prestigious Boston University, she has consistently demonstrated her expertise and passion for her field. When she's not immersed in her work, Janet relishes her time exercising, delving into a good book, and cherishing moments with friends and family.