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Short shrift

//ˌʃɔːt ˈʃɹɪft// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A rushed sacrament of confession given to a prisoner who is to be executed very soon. countable, historical, uncountable

    "Diſpatch my Lo[rd] the Duke would be at dinner: / Make a ſhort ſhrift, he longs to ſee your head."

  2. 2
    a brief and unsympathetic rejection wordnet
  3. 3
    Speedy execution, usually without any proper determination of guilt. broadly, uncountable

    ""Here is a spy of the enemy, General," said the Sergeant. / "Make short shrift of him! We have no time for court-martials now." / "He's been condemned already, sir. He's the same man that was rescued from under the gallows by Commodore Stout's men.""

  4. 4
    A short interval of relief or time. broadly, countable

    "Short were his shrift in that debate, / That hour of fury and of fate, / If Lorn encounter'd Bruce!"

  5. 5
    Sometimes preceded by the: a quick dismissal or rejection, especially one which is impolite and undertaken without proper consideration. figuratively, uncountable

    "The bank gave me short shrift when I applied for a loan."

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  1. 6
    Something dealt with or overcome quickly and without difficulty; something made short work of. dated, figuratively, uncountable

    "[L]ast week that scoundrel of a factor went to the hut with two of his men and seized the cow because they couldn't pay the rent—said his lordship advised him to give short shrift, since indulgence did not pay—that he himself was in want of money for his travels, and must get the rents of Uribol."

Etymology

From short + shrift (“act of going to or hearing a religious confession; confession to a priest”). Shrift is derived from Middle English shrift (“confession to a priest; act or instance of this; sacrament of penance; penance assigned by a priest; penitence, repentance; punishment for sin”) [and other forms], from Old English sċrift (“penance, shrift; something prescribed as punishment, penalty; one who passes sentence, a judge”), from sċrīfan (“of a priest: to prescribe absolution or penance; to pass judgment, ordain, prescribe; to appoint, decree”) (whence shrive), from Proto-Germanic *skrībaną (“to write”), from Latin scrībō (“to write”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreybʰ- (“to scratch, tear”).

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