fall short

English

Verb

fall short (third-person singular simple present falls short, present participle falling short, simple past fell short, past participle fallen short)

1. (idiomatic) to be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient
   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 245c.

     But if being is not a whole through being affected by that affection, and there is such a thing as the whole itself, if follows that being falls short of itself.

Usage notes

Usually used with preposition of.

Derived terms

• short-fall, shortfall
• fall short of

See also

• fall short to

Anagrams

• short-fall, shortfall