EN

Synonyms for curtail

27 synonyms
9 antonyms
2 meanings

verb

Most common

shorten reduce restrict decrease crop dock

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

1. Shorten

shorten, curb US, reduce, restrict, decrease, retrench, diminish, cut short, lessen, suppress, restrain, limit, cut, abridge, cut down, cut back, control, truncate, clip, compress, bind, condense

2. Crop — to cut short the tail of (an animal)

Other

abbreviate, hamshackle, behedge

Antonyms

extend, lengthen, prolong

All antonyms of curtail →

Definitions

v. 1
To cut short the tail of (an animal).
Curtailing horses procured long horse-hair.
v. 2
To shorten or abridge the duration of; to bring an end to; to truncate.
When the audience grew restless, the speaker curtailed her speech.

Related words

Word family: curtailment curt curtal

Forms

Past participle: curtailed
e.g. curtailed → shortened, curbed, reduced, restricted…

Example sentences

decrease A significant decrease in temperature is expected.
restrict He feels this new law will restrict his freedom.
shorten High operating temperatures shorten lubricant life.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
curtail		falling
decrease		falling
restrict		steady
shorten		steady
retrench		falling

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: cut¹
4 letters: clip¹, crop¹, dock¹, curb¹, bind¹
5 letters: limit²
6 letters: reduce², lessen²
7 letters: control², shorten², abridge², behedge
8 letters: decrease², restrict², suppress², diminish³, restrain², compress², condense², truncate², retrench²
10 letters: abbreviate⁴, hamshackle

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (limit² = 2 syllables).