- dilatory
- \ \ see DEFER
Word origins - 2ed. J. Ayto. 2005.
dilatory
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dilatory — I adjective after time, behind time, belated, deferring, delayed, delaying, deliberately slow, eleventh hour, inclined to delay, indolent, intended to bring about delay, intended to defer decision, intended to gain time, lackadaisical, last… … Law dictionary
Dilatory — Dil a*to*ry, a. [L. dilatorius, fr. dilator a delayer, fr. dilatus, used as p. p. of differe to defer, delay: cf. F. dilatoire. See {Dilate}, {Differ}, {Defer}.] 1. Inclined to defer or put off what ought to be done at once; given the… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
dilatory — [dil′ə tôr΄ē] adj. [ME dilatorie < LL dilatorius < L dilator, dilatory person < dilatus, pp. of differre, DEFER1] 1. causing or tending to cause delay; meant to gain time, defer action, etc. 2. inclined to delay; slow or late in doing… … English World dictionary
dilatory — late 15c., from L.L. dilatorius, from dilator procrastinator, from dilatus, serving as pp. of differe delay (see DEFER (Cf. defer)) … Etymology dictionary
dilatory — *slow, laggard, deliberate, leisurely Analogous words: procrastinating, delaying, dawdling (see DELAY): *negligent, neglectful, lax, slack, remiss Antonyms: diligent Contrasted words: *busy, assiduous, sedulous, industrious: *quick, prompt, ready … New Dictionary of Synonyms
dilatory — meaning ‘given to or causing delay’, is pronounced dil tǝ ri. The same stress pattern applies, rather more awkwardly, to the derivative forms dilatorily and dilatoriness … Modern English usage
dilatory — [adj] procrastinating backward, behindhand, dallying, delaying, deliberate, laggard, late, lax, lazy, leisurely, lingering, loitering, moratory, neglectful, negligent, putting off, remiss, slack, slow, sluggish, snail like*, tardy, tarrying, time … New thesaurus
dilatory — ► ADJECTIVE 1) slow to act. 2) intended to cause delay. DERIVATIVES dilatoriness noun. ORIGIN Latin dilatorius, from dilator delayer … English terms dictionary
dilatory — adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo French dilatorie, Late Latin dilatorius, from Latin differre (past participle dilatus) to postpone, differ more at differ, tolerate Date: 15th century 1. tending or intended to cause delay < dilator … New Collegiate Dictionary
dilatory — [[t]dɪ̱lətri, AM tɔːri[/t]] ADJ GRADED Someone or something that is dilatory is slow and causes delay. [FORMAL] You might expect politicians to smooth things out when civil servants are being dilatory … English dictionary
dilatory — adjective 1) he had been dilatory in appointing an executor Syn: slow, tardy, unhurried, sluggish, sluggardly, snaillike, lazy Ant: fast, prompt 2) dilatory procedural tactics Syn … Thesaurus of popular words
