Showing results for come up short. Search instead for came+short.

come up short

VERB

lose

Synonyms

STRONGEST

decline drop fall

STRONG

miss succumb yield

WEAK

be humbled be outdistanced be sunk be taken to cleaners be the loser be worsted drop a bundle kiss goodbye lose out suffer defeat take a beating take the count take the heat

Antonyms

STRONGEST

ascend go up rise

WEAK

achieve confront face hold on to keep maintain meet succeed win

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.

Even in years with decent snow, streamflow has come up short.

From Science Daily • Apr. 14, 2026

Arteta's Arsenal will be desperate to shed their tag as the side that has come up short in recent years.

From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026

But Bazinet said he believes that Netflix will come up short and will likely land closer to $9 billion by 2030.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 18, 2026

By that measure, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and Mr. Newsom have so far come up short.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026

Mr. Ferro explained he’d come up short on the steel tubing.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam