procrastinate

verb

pro·​cras·​ti·​nate prə-ˈkra-stə-ˌnāt 

prō-

procrastinated; procrastinating

transitive verb

: to put off intentionally and habitually

intransitive verb

: to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done

procrastination

prə-ˌkra-stə-ˈnā-shən 

prō-

noun

procrastinator

prə-ˈkra-stə-ˌnā-tər 

prō-

noun

Did you know?

We won't put off telling you about out the origins of procrastinate: it comes from the Latin prefix pro-, meaning "forward," and crastinus, "of tomorrow." The word means moving or acting slowly so as to fall behind, and it implies blameworthy delay especially through laziness or apathy.

Choose the Right Synonym for procrastinate

delay, procrastinate, lag, loiter, dawdle, dally mean to move or act slowly so as to fall behind.

delay usually implies a putting off of something (such as a beginning or departure).

we cannot delay any longer

procrastinate implies blameworthy delay especially through laziness or apathy.

procrastinates about making decisions

lag implies failure to maintain a speed set by others.

lagging behind in technology

loiter and dawdle imply delay while in progress, especially in walking, but dawdle more clearly suggests an aimless wasting of time.

loitered at several store windows

children dawdling on their way home from school

dally suggests delay through trifling or vacillation when promptness is necessary.

stop dallying and get to work

Examples of procrastinate in a Sentence

He procrastinated and missed the submission deadline.

He told her to stop procrastinating and get to work.

Recent Examples on the Web

Some of the key signs include feeling overwhelmed by the process, dreading the act of applying for jobs, procrastinating on updating your resume or reaching out to contacts, and feeling overly discouraged by rejection. —Benjamin Laker, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024

Interviews by Kate Guadagnino Advice on Beginning Ten creative minds on how to start, pivot and productively procrastinate. —Kate Guadagnino, New York Times, 21 Nov. 2024

In most years, roughly 90% of ballots are counted by the Thursday after Election Day, but that number is harder to hit if voters procrastinate. —Kale Williams, Axios, 4 Nov. 2024

This means companies can, in effect, procrastinate and wait until customer demand is present before producing an actual product or service. —Kaihan Krippendorff robert C. Wolcott, Harvard Business Review, 23 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin procrastinatus, past participle of procrastinare, from pro- forward + crastinus of tomorrow, from cras tomorrow

First Known Use

1588, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

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Kids Definition

procrastinate

verb

pro·​cras·​ti·​nate p(r)ə-ˈkras-tə-ˌnāt 

prō-

procrastinated; procrastinating

: to keep putting off something that should be done

procrastination

-ˌkras-tə-ˈnā-shən 

noun

procrastinator

-ˈkras-tə-ˌnāt-ər 

noun