dilatory

adjective

dil·​a·​to·​ry ˈdi-lə-ˌtȯr-ē 

1

: tending or intended to cause delay

dilatory tactics

2

: characterized by procrastination : tardy

dilatory in paying bills

dilatorily

ˌdi-lə-ˈtȯr-ə-lē 

adverb

dilatoriness

ˈdi-lə-ˌtȯr-ē-nəs 

noun

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When should you use dilatory?

“Slow down, you move too fast / You got to make the morning last / Just kicking down the cobblestones / Looking for fun and feelin'…” dilatory? We can’t say Paul Simon was wrong to choose groovy to end that verse of “The 59th Street Bridge Song” but dilatory would have also made sense. You see, if procrastination is your style, dilatory is the word for you. It’s been describing things that cause delay since at least the 15th century, and its ancestors were hanging around with similar meanings long before that. The word's source is dilatus, a form of the multifaceted Latin verb differre, meaning "to carry away in varying directions, spread abroad, postpone, delay, be unlike or distinct." That verb is also an ancestor of the words different, differ, and defer—a fact we think is pretty groovy.

Synonyms

• crawling
• creeping
• dallying
• dawdling
• dillydallying
• dragging
• laggard
• lagging
• languid
• leisurely
• poking
• poky
• pokey
• slow
• sluggish
• snail-paced
• snaillike
• tardy
• unhurried

Examples of dilatory in a Sentence

the homeowner is claiming that local firefighters were dilatory in responding to the call

Recent Examples on the Web

At the Washington Department of Ecology, the state’s primary Hanford watchdog, people have had to stretch their imaginations to accommodate Hanford’s dilatory progress, said Cheryl Whalen, the agency’s cleanup section manager. —Valerie Brown, Discover Magazine, 28 Sep. 2018

He can’t be blamed for the agency’s dilatory response to problems at the plant. —The Editorial Board, WSJ, 25 May 2022

Members of Congress from both parties are raising tough questions about this dilatory pace. —William A. Galston, WSJ, 24 May 2022

Cleage’s dilatory method, unfortunately, nudges her to find melodramatic solutions to the stasis. —Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2022

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French dilatorie, Late Latin dilatorius, from Latin differre (past participle dilatus) to postpone, differ — more at differ, tolerate

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

dilatory

adjective

dil·​a·​to·​ry ˈdil-ə-ˌtōr-ē 

-ˌtȯr-

1

: tending or intended to cause delay

dilatory tactics

2

: tending to be late : tardy

dilatory in paying her bills

dilatorily

ˌdil-ə-ˈtōr-ə-lē 

-ˈtȯr-

adverb

dilatoriness

ˈdil-ə-ˌtōr-ē-nəs 

-ˌtȯr-

noun