short-sleeved

IPA/ˌʃɔːtˈsliːvd/
IPA/ˌʃɔːrtˈsliːvd/

short-sleeved — adjective

1. describes clothing — especially shirts, blouses, tops, and dresses — that has sl

1.adjectiveA2
Definition

describes clothing — especially shirts, blouses, tops, and dresses — that has sleeves reaching only to the upper arm between the shoulder and the elbow rather than covering the whole arm.

Example

Nellie wore a short-sleeved cotton shirt to the summer picnic.

short-sleeved + material + garment (cotton shirt)

The school's dress code requires short-sleeved white blouses for all students.

Common collocations
  • short-sleeved shirt
  • short-sleeved blouse
  • short-sleeved T-shirt
  • short-sleeved dress
  • short-sleeved top
  • short-sleeved jacket
Antonyms
  • long-sleeved

    the opposite sleeve length, with sleeves covering down to the wrist

  • sleeveless

    having no sleeves at all, rather than short ones

Grammar Patterns

short-sleeved + noun (garment type)

Usage Note

Almost always used before the noun it describes (attributive position): 'a short-sleeved shirt', 'a short-sleeved dress'. Predicative use ('This shirt is short-sleeved') is grammatically correct but far less frequent in everyday speech.

Common Mistakes

I bought a short sleeve shirt.
I bought a short-sleeved shirt.
When used as a compound adjective before a noun, the form requires a hyphen and the -ed suffix. Compare 'long-legged', 'blue-eyed'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

These four terms describe the sleeve length of a garment along a continuum. 'Short-sleeved' is the neutral middle option — the sleeve ends between the shoulder and the elbow. 'Long-sleeved' extends the sleeve to the wrist and is the opposite end of the range. 'Sleeveless' removes the sleeve entirely, leaving the shoulder bare. 'Three-quarter-sleeved' falls between short and long, ending around the forearm. In casual speech, 'short-sleeved' is the default descriptor for warm-weather tops; the other terms are used only when the specific length matters. For example, a teacher might say 'Bring a short-sleeved shirt for gym class' because the exact sleeve length matters for the uniform, but 'I need a short-sleeved shirt for summer' just means a cooler top.

short-sleeved ↗long-sleeved ↗sleeveless ↗three-quarter-sleeved

Common collocations

Nouns

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

A compound word formed in English from the adjective 'short' (Old English 'sceort', meaning not long in length) and 'sleeved' (from 'sleeve', Old English 'sliefe', the part of a garment covering the arm). The pattern of combining a length adjective with '-sleeved' dates back to at least the 16th century, becoming common in clothing catalogues from the 1800s onward as manufactured shirts and blouses were mass-produced in standard sleeve lengths.