Meaning & use
short listed candidates
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Meanings
nounplural
the small group of people chosen from all the applicants to go on to the next stage of a competition or hiring process.
Grammar: Always plural and usually used with 'the'; for one person say 'a short-listed candidate'.
Patterns
- be short listed for something
- a short-listed candidate for something
- short-listed candidates are invited to something
Only five short-listed candidates were invited back for a second interview.
The short-listed candidates for the scholarship will be told the result by Friday.
She was short listed for the job but lost out to someone with more experience.
nounplural
the names that have been kept on a reduced list after weaker ones have been removed.
Grammar: Used as a plural noun phrase; it can also be written as two words, 'short listed candidates'.
Patterns
- the short listed candidates
- on the short listed candidates
The panel read through the short listed candidates one more time before voting.
All the short listed candidates had strong references.
Common combinations
- short-listed for a job
- He was short-listed for a job at the bank.
- be short listed for an award
- Her first film was short listed for an award.
- draw up a short list
- We drew up a short list of six people.
- make the short list
- Only three applicants made the short list.
- short-listed candidates are invited
- Short-listed candidates are invited to a second interview.
Synonyms and how they differ
- finalists
- Use 'finalists' for the last few competitors in a contest, while 'short listed candidates' often refers to an earlier stage of a job or award process.
- applicants
- 'Applicants' means everyone who applied, so it is much wider than the small group who were short listed.
Word family
- shortlist verb
- to put someone on the small list of people chosen for the next stage
- shortlist noun
- the small list itself, as in 'on the shortlist'
- shortlisting noun
- the act or stage of choosing the small list
Commonly confused: short listed candidates or long list?
short listed candidates vs long list
A 'long list' is the full or longer set of names before it is reduced; the 'short list' is what remains after that reduction.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Candidates' must be plural after 'one of the', and the phrase needs 'the' before it: 'one of the short listed candidates'. Option 1 uses a singular noun, and options 2 and 3 drop 'the', which English requires here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “short listed candidates”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.