to fall short of
25
4.4
- phrasal verb
:
no alcanzar
- Her current skills fall short of what is required for the promotion she desires.
- fall short of their goals
- fallen short of expectations
- falls short of the standard
But such analogies fall short of how different these times are.
- But such analogies fall short of how different these times are.
- And you likely fall short of that in a more realistic way.
- Does the state of your life, internally or externally, fall short of what you imagined?
- We're all going to make mistakes and we're all going to fall short of holding ourselves accountable at times.
- And of course, Muslims have sometimes fallen short of Islamic standards in the past and in the present.
- Because if this is failure, give, give me more of it, you know, falling slightly short, falling short of, of, of what would otherwise be a perfect year.
- During your time here as a student, you've borne witness to many painful reminders of how the world is still falling short of that vision.
- It's usually just they just accept that that's going to be part of the journey that you are going to doubt yourself, that you are going to fall short of your goals.
- You know, you're always falling short of these ambitious goals of kind of surpassing the West and beating it at its own game.
- Then that means our world with fall short of what it should be.
- And, and I he, he fell short of making the Olympics himself.
Examples
-
Fourth, the economic growth rate and the amount of direct foreign investment have fallen short of expectations.
Academic text (1997) -
We're all going to make mistakes and we're all going to fall short of holding ourselves accountable at times.
-
I tried last night, but I fell short of my mark.
-
Unfortunately, they have continued to fall short of their mission.
Academic text (2012) -
Much of this investment, of course, falls short of its intended effect.
-
Unfortunately, older adults often fall short of the daily requirements.
Academic text (2015) -
But numerous reports also suggest that media behavior falls short of the ideal.
Academic text (1999) -
In many situations, efforts to maintain health fall short of attainable goals.
Academic text (1995) -
The best available evidence may be only indirectly relevant and may fall short of the highest standards for rigorous research.
Academic text (2012) -
So the really simple answer to this is that most people's diets are falling short of meeting our nutritional needs.
Synonyms
64
3.9
Fail to reach the level people expect
20
5.3
To do worse than expected or needed
1
5.5
Do less well than expected or than they can
1
6.0
Fail to reach what is needed or expected
Antonyms
How Close
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to not reach the expected level' is directly inferable from combining 'fall' (to drop/not reach) with 'short' (insufficient), with 'of' marking the reference standard. This compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows regular English construction, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can readily deduce the meaning.
Etymology
Fall short of comes from the image of trying to reach something high, where your hands fall a little short and you cannot touch it. So, fall short of means 'to not reach the level people expect'.