shortcoming

[shawrt-kuhm-ing]

Origin

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noun

a failure, defect, or deficiency in conduct, condition, thought, ability, etc.: a social shortcoming; a shortcoming of his philosophy.

Origin:
1670–80; short + coming

Synonyms
fault, flaw, failing, weakness.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Shortcoming is a GRE word you need to know.

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bashful or unassertive

dependent on circumstances beyond one's control

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Collins

World English Dictionary

shortcoming (ˈʃɔːtˌkʌmɪŋ)

—n
	a failing, defect, or deficiency

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

shortcoming

1680, from the phrase to come short "be inadequate" (1579); see short (adj.).

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Related Words

defect

redeem

Matching Quote

"Fashions change, and with the new psychoanalytical perspective of the postwar period [WWII], child rearing became enshrined as the special responsibility of mothers ... any shortcoming in adult life was now seen as rooted in the failure of mothering during childhood."

-Sylvia Ann Hewitt

shortcoming

short·com·ing