short-winded

7.1

Breathing is difficult and you get out of breath after activity

adjective
/ˈʃɔrtˌwɪndɪd/

: sin aliento

After running for just a few minutes, I felt short-winded and needed to catch my breath.

Examples

After only two short sprints and two unsuccessful swings of my net, I quickly found myself terribly short-winded.

Academic text (2011)
The elderly man became short-winded after climbing the stairs to his apartment.
She knew she was getting short-winded when even light exercise made her gasp for air.

Synonyms

winded

vsshort-winded

21 3.5

Breathing hard and having trouble after exercise

is used for becoming easily unable to breathe normally during activity

breathless

vsshort-winded

16 3.3

Not able to breathe easily after physical effort or strong emotion

is used mainly for breathing difficulty after physical activity

pursy

vsshort-winded

Archaic

1 9.9

Breathing with difficulty and feeling short of breath after little effort, often from being overweight

is mainly used for breath difficulty after activity not chronic weight related causes

gassed

vsshort-winded

Informal

7.6

Being very tired and out of breath after hard exercise

is about breathing difficulty without implying extreme tiredness

gaspy

vsshort-winded

8.1

Breathing quickly and loudly because you have little air

is about breathing difficulty but not necessarily making gasping noises

dyspneic

vsshort-winded

Specialized

9.9

Having trouble breathing or feeling short of breath

is a common term for breathing difficulty used in daily situations

dyspneal

vsshort-winded

Specialized

9.9

Having difficulty breathing and feeling short of breath

is the general way to describe breathing becoming difficult in daily use

dyspnoeal

vsshort-winded

9.9

Having difficulty breathing

is a broader everyday description of breathing difficulty

How Breathless

breathless

16 3.3

short-winded

7.1

winded

21 3.5

Surface Forms

short-winded positive

shorter-winded comparative

shortest-winded superlative

Morphology

short-winded = short + winded (transparent) = short + wind + ed

The compound 'short' + 'winded' directly yields the meaning 'easily out of breath'; learners who know 'short' and 'winded' can infer the sense.

Etymology

Short-winded is made from short and wind, where wind means 'breath', like in 'to be winded'. So to be short-winded is to have only a little breath and to become out of breath quickly.